Of Pirates And Princes
by DarkStarShadow
Summary: Mechanic Corona Tantalus has a dark past, one that involves Officer Sky Tate. One that Sky's trying everything in his power to smother and erase. Can Bridge manage to find out the truth before any more blood gets spilled? Completed
1. Cryptic Vitriol

_Disclaimer: I don't own anybody but the mechanic girl. If you're interested in knowing, this story would, in theory, take place between Abridged and Sam part 1. Now, read like a good little reader and enjoy._

"Let go of me!"

The morning started off horridly for Mechanic Corona Tantalus. Officer Sky Tate had the young woman in handcuffs, her parcel for Commander Cruger being carried firmly in his free hand, and he was marching her in to the Control Center.

The mechanic was in the top in her field and she was incredibly versatile and useful when working with Boom and Kat Manx on developing weapons and gear for B Squad. She feared the day she would cross paths with Sky, B Squad's Blue Ranger, and she expected his current reaction to her existence. In fact, she expected him to be even more merciless than he was actually being.

"This is ridiculous, Schuyler!" Corona shouted. "I haven't done anything! I work here now, do you understand?"

"Commander Cruger will take care of you, and I'll see to it that you stay behind bars…for good!" Sky replied as he viciously tugged on Corona's arm. He yanked on her so hard, that she fell to the ground and knocked her hair off, letting her short-cut mud-shaded hair flop about. Sky then picked her up, barely giving Corona a chance to put her hat back on. "Keep up the pace!" He shouted. As they approached the Command Center, Sky seemed to beam with pride.

"Commander, I found an intruder marching around the hallways with this package in hand." Sky reported with a grin. Corona flashed a vicious look so cold that her light blue eyes appeared to turn into giant ice blocks.

"Officer Tate, Mechanic Tantalus has been released from her four-year sentence of supervised SPD work for the last six months."

"Yeah, Schuyler, Commander Cruger's ordering you to let go of me, so do it or you'll be moping floors with me next week." Corona taunted.

Sky, trying to ignore Corona's comment, continued on with his conversation with his commanding officer. "Then why is she still here?"

"She requested to continue her work here, and Dr. Manx has hired her as an assistant mechanic for the B Squad Weapons Development Department."

"She sent me here to install things to the viewing computer's module because she's busy. Let me go." Corona spat out.

"You are to address me properly, as you are a subordinate." Sky shot back through clenched teeth. His temper, while usually non-existent, was swiftly coming to a head.

"Hey, what's going on here?" Jack asked as Syd, Bridge, and Z followed her in. "We saw Sky dragging this woman in here…"

"Officer Tate, is this true? Are you physically assaulting an SPD employee?"

"While threatening me as well, saying that you would confine me 'for good', as he put it, Commander Sir." Corona replied.

"Let her go, Tate." Sky responded by forcefully dropping her. He then aggressively unlocked the handcuffs, releasing her and allowing her to stand up. She promptly got to her feet and stood at attention. "I shall speak with you later. Now, Mechanic Tantalus, please clarify the reason why you are not at your station working."

"Commander Sir, I was sent here by Dr. Manx to install this extra speed drives into the Command Control viewing computer to free up some space, but I'm not familiar with this area of SPD, so I got lost. Thanks to…Officer Tate…here, I now know how to get here while being manhandled." She rubbed her wrists vigorously, trying to get them to stop burning and aching. "Now, how do I get into this module?"

"Oh, I can help!" Bridge said, raising his hand.

"Would you be so kind as to do so?" Corona asked.

"It's right down there." Bridge pointed out.

Corona smiled and bent down to open up the door guarding the computer's delicate wiring. She removed her left glove and took a deep breath. Her hand began to glow a dull crimson shade, which grew steadily brighter as she moved her hand about. She gently placed her finger against the lock, and swiped it across the top of the ID Card Scanner module. It unlocked and flung open. Corona smiled, then put her glove back on. She quickly stuck the various jump drives into their respective outlets, then shut the panel door. "There, all installed. Things should move along nice and smoothly. Have a nice day, Commander Cruger." She saluted Commander Cruger, then turned to B Squad. "and a good day to you all, B Squad. Even you, Schuyler." She then saluted the team and then quickly headed for the exit.

"The rest of you are dismissed. Officer Tate, remain here. I have much to speak to you about."

"Yes, sir." Sky obviously didn't like the sound of the request. His voice sounded as if he were either about to scream or cry, both of which the rest of B Squad cared to watch.

The remaining members of B Squad walked back to the B Squad Commons Room, where they began to find themselves always being when not sleeping or on a mission.

"Has anybody ever seen that girl before?" Bridge asked the group.

"No, can't say I have." Z replied.

"If I had seen her before, I wouldn't have forgotten her. She's very eye-catching, if you know what I mean." Jack replied. Unfortunately, they got Jack's point.

"Well, if I had crossed paths with her before, I would've looked onwards. I'm not one to look at mechanics and other types of workers. Their uniforms are atrocious," Syd added. Bridge figured that her vain nature would cause her to ignore most other people. "however…she does look familiar. I've seen her before, no doubt. It must have been outside of SPD, though." They turned the corner and spotted her on the other side of the hallway, running toward the Lab.

"Yeah, I thought that I've seen her before too," Z chirped in. "I've seen her face somewhere too, but I just can't figure out where I've seen it before."

"I have a feeling that we were supposed to meet her, guys," Bridge said as they approached the room. "you know, like it was destiny."

"Oh please, Bridge. You're looking way into something that doesn't need to be looked into." Jack said as he darted straight for the couch.

"But it doesn't make sense to me as to why Kat would send a mechanic in to do her job." Bridge sat with his legs crisscrossed on the ground.

"Why does that seem odd to you?" Syd asked as she picked up a paintbrush and began to idly paint on the clean canvas sitting on the easel.

"Well, usually Kat comes in to do work on consoles and modules and all that stuff."

"Well, maybe she's busy today." Syd replied.

"Well, there was something else. The mechanic's hand glowed. And she unlocked the panel door without a card. She used her finger, and she merely ran it across the top of the ID Card Scanner."

"Only you would notice something obscure like that, Bridge." Jack joked.

"So what? So she's got a special ability. No big deal." Syd commented.

"Well, it is a big deal. Not everybody has the abilities we have, Syd. In fact, she's the first person besides anybody in our squad that I've heard of with special abilities." Z replied.

"Maybe she's a humanoid alien." Jack speculated.

"Highly unlikely, but I could check that out if I get the chance." Bridge then got up. "I'm going to go do some exercising. Anybody wanna join me?"

"Nah, I wanna paint." Syd replied.

"I'm gonna sit here and wait to find out what Sky's gotta be doing for the next six months after what he did to the mechanic girl." Jack replied with a smile.

"I'll go." Z said as she got up out of her chair.

"Good, let's go." Bridge and Z quickly headed for the appropriate locker rooms as they got ready to work out.


	2. The Roomies and Their Toast Obsessions

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of the rangers. I wish I did, because then I could turn them into life size dress-up dolls and I'd put Sky in a dress. For fun. But that's another story. Enjoy this story instead._

An hour later, Z and Bridge were drenched in sweat in the Academy's personal gym. Z decided to run on the MountainMaster 3000, while Bridge stuck to old fashioned weight-lifting. Bridge was growing bored, and decided to engage a conversation.

"Z, what do you think of that mechanic girl?"

"Oh, get over her, Bridge." Z replied with a bite in her voice.

"No, I mean, I've never met her before, and I've never seen Sky with her, so why does Sky hate her?"

"We all have our reasons for hating people, Bridge." Z had a feeling that this conversation was not going to be dropped anytime soon.

"But it seems stupid to hate somebody. It's a waste of energy and health to hold grudges. Look at Sky. Ever since Jack became the Red Ranger, he's had a chronic case of indigestion and insomnia. That and he's developed a massively short temper. Now with the mechanic on his list of people he despises…it's just not good. He's so wound up in hating people that he only has the energy to be a Ranger and read a lot."

"Maybe he's got a good reason for hating her. You heard Commander Cruger say that she's an ex-con. Maybe she stole something from him. Maybe she killed his pet cat or something."

"But why would he continue to exude the hatred now? He has better things to do than to beat on an SPD employee."

"I just think that we shouldn't discuss this until we know his reason for hating her."

"But do you think he'll tell us? I highly doubt it, Z."

Z frowned. Bridge was right; Sky was about as informative as a carrot in the dirt when it came to his personal life. Sky hated divulging into his life any deeper than SPD-related things, his father included. She figured that Bridge would do one of two things at this point: decide that continuing with his quest for secrets was too difficult and he would give up, or he would turn into Sherlock Holmes like he did last week and he wouldn't rest until Sky cracked and started screaming out his endless reasons for hating everyone and everything. She sighed and got off the treadmill.

"Bridge, if you're serious about this…" Z struggled for the rationale to support Bridge's search, but she settled on insanity instead. "Bridge, I won't protect you if Sky finds out."

"That's fine." Bridge dropped his weights. "I'm going to try and talk to her tonight, okay?"

"Fine by me. Just don't get caught." Bridge and Z departed for their individual destinations.

As Z made her way to her room to check the local news on her laptop, Bridge made his way down to the cafeteria. He was heavily interested in the enigma that was Miss Corona Tantalus, and the only thing that would get his mind off of her was breakfast. He hoped that they were still serving toast.

He walked in to spot the mechanic sitting at a table in the far back. He quickly looked away, trying to think about food.

The mechanic had toast sitting in front of her. She was spreading thin layers of both blue raspberry and strawberry jams on the poor piece of toast, even going as far as bending down to inspect the thickness of the layers. When she was pleased, she smiled and began to eat her mini masterpiece.

"And Z thinks I'm nuts about the butteriness of my toast…" Bridge muttered to himself as he entered the breakfast line. He quickly grabbed a few slices of toast and a few containers of butter, along with a knife, an apple, and a small glass of orange juice.

Bridge decided against his better judgment and walked over to talk to Mechanic Tantalus.

"Is this seat taken?" Bridge asked politely.

Corona looked up and was surprised to see a B Squad member talking to her. "Of course not, Officer Carson."

"Just call me Bridge." Bridge said as he sat down.

"Okay then, Bridge. It's nice to talk to somebody I work for once in a while besides Dr. Manx and Commander Cruger."

"You work for me?" Bridge asked, puzzled.

"I work for B Squad. I used to work for A Squad, but they dismissed me. Said I was too slow with my work. I'm not a damn assembly line, therefore I was useless to them, so they ended up firing me."

"That's a shame. You seem like a nice person." Corona stopped suddenly, and looked at Bridge. A small smile began to form, but it quickly faded as she looked back down.

"Glad to see that somebody in B Squad does." Corona's voice sounded as if it was going to crack while she spoke. She quickly regained her composure and began to once more gorge on her toast.

"Hey, I'm sorry about Sky. He's really cranky in the morning. Imagine rooming with him."

"Oh, I know what it's like. Real fun, isn't it?" Corona sarcastically said as she took a sip from her blue mug. It smelled like a chai tea of sorts.

"You used to room with him?" Bridge was suddenly pulled in. There was no way in hell he wasn't going to leave without more information.

"Yeah, against my will. So I left and found a better roommate, one who could say hi to me without cringing."

"Unfortunately, I sometimes wish I could do the same. It does get boring to talk to Sky and end up talking to a wall instead."

"Smack him next time. That'll get his attention."

"Hey, I don't want to be cleaning every toilet on the fourth floor because he won't talk to me."

"No, the Commander'll only have you cleaning the third floor toilets for slugging a cadet of equal rank."

"But isn't the third floor…?"

"The gyms? Yeah."

"My point exactly."

Silence fell over them for a moment as Corona and Bridge quickly wolfed down their meals. After he was done, then Bridge began to snicker.

"What's so funny?" Corona asked.

"Nothing. I gotta get going. Have a nice day." Bridge picked up his plates and put them on the cleaning tray. Corona sighed and finished her tea. She looked over at the computer by her side.

_Honesty is the best policy, Miss Corona_. Was the message at the top of the screen.

"Yeah, but Schuyler's pretty hard up, ACTER. Officer Carson doesn't need to get involved." She replied. "I've already said too much to him already."


	3. The Bodyguard

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of the SPD Rangers. I own this plot, though, so if you decide to try and steal it, I will find you and knock you senseless. Or I'll just report you. So, for those of you who are nice, non-plagiarizers, enjoy._

Bridge silently walked back into the Common Room, confused and still pensive. He decided on doing a headstand to let his thoughts flow.

"Are you still busy thinking about the mechanic, Bridge?" Z teased. "If you asked her out on a date, I'm sure you'd find out more."

"Yeah, and she might decide on wearing a nice outfit too. I think it'd be easier to talk to somebody who's dressed in regular clothes." Syd cut in.

Bridge was too busy thinking to respond. He was putting all his ideas together.

_Sky hates her for a reason._

_She's an ex-con._

_She calls him Schuyler, but she doesn't know anybody else on B Squad's names._

_She's obsessive about her toast._

_She has a very pretty smile._

_She's familiar to us, but we've never seen her before today._

_She used to room with Sky a while ago…_

Bridge let the ideas roll around for a while, then gave up. He came out of the headstand and sighed.

"I'm upset that I can't figure this out." Bridge exclaimed as he sat down in a chair.

"Oh, don't beat yourself up over it, Bridge. It's something you shouldn't be worried about anyways." Syd said. The picture she was painting was quite the abstract piece. Z was playing a game on the computer, and Jack was watching an old 80's movie on the wide screen plasma. Sky was obviously working on his punishment.

"Oh man…three months without Sky in here…" Jack said as he began to dig into the bowl of popcorn.

"What was his punishment?"

"Three weeks of discipline training with D Squad cadets when he's not on duty. Oh man, I'd hate to be him!" Jack laughed.

"Gee, Jack, thanks for the comment." Bridge started thinking about sleeping on the Common Room's couch for the next three weeks. Sky would not be a happy camper, or a good roommate

"So, I take it you ran into her again?" Z asked.

"Yeah. She was in the cafeteria. She was obsessing over the thickness of the jam on her toast."

"I see. So, are you two gonna be toast buddies now?" Z joked.

"Not really. She's really shy, it seems."

"Well, like I said, maybe you should ask her out on a date." Syd said, looking back at her painting and inspecting it.

"I don't like her like that, Syd."

"Well, it doesn't have to be a romantic date. Take her out to lunch or something. Girls are more willing to talk if you take them out to eat."

"Well, I mean…Sky-"

"We won't tell him a thing. You'll just be out having lunch by yourself, according to us." Syd said with a wink.

Bridge thought it over, but decided against it. "It's okay. I'm just going to drop it. I'm fine." Bridge sat down next to Jack and grabbed a handful of popcorn.

The alarm suddenly went off, causing the foursome to jump up and run for the Command Center.

Sky met them there, a sour look painted on his face.

"We have a monster out on the loose. His name is Mordom, and he is a highly trained assassin who is an associate of Grumm's. He's wanted for the countless murders of the space pirate clan The Marauders. I warn you all, do not let him come into close contact with you. He's infamous for a hypnotic persuasion at close range. He's down in Sector Two at this moment, hypnotizing civilians to fight each other. Proceed with caution, Rangers."

The B Squad Rangers saluted Cruger then ran to confront Mordom.

Fifteen minutes later, the Rangers arrived at the scene, and Mordom was having a fun time watching his victims brawl. Several girls were tearing each other's hair out in the parking lot, and a full-on brawl comprised of at least two dozen people was being conducted in the mall's entrance lobby. A tall, black, faceless alien stood by, laughing sadistically as it watched.

"Ah, how I miss the days of torturing innocent people…" Mordom mused. It was at this time that Mordom noticed the Rangers. "Ah, SPD. Just the crowd I was looking for."

"You're under arrest, Mordom." Sky stated as he took out his Delta Morpher.

"Ah, Officer Tate. How's the family?" Mordom asked.

"You can come in quietly or we can take you down by force." Sky replied, avoiding the question.

"I don't wish to fight you. I want the pirate girl. Grumm's orders. I won't hesitate to fight you all to get to her, either."

"The pirate girl you want is an SPD employee, and you'll have to go through me and everybody else at SPD to have her." Sky replied. Syd, Z, Jack and Bridge stood back, waiting for a fight to break out.

"I see. Just deliver this message to her and Cruger: 'Emperor Grumm awaits the arrival of the pirate girl, and if she will not come of her own accord or by SPD escort, then Emperor Grumm will have no choice but to take her by force.' Now, my job is done here. I hope to see you all quite soon." Mordom snapped his fingers and the people stopped fighting. He then swung his arms, kicked up dust, and escaped before the Rangers could start a battle with it.

"Dammit!" Sky shouted. The Rangers sighed as they went to check on the status of the civilians.

An hour later, the Rangers reported back to SPD Headquarters to give Cruger the bad news.

"I will not turn an SPD employee over to Grumm. The next time any of you see him, you are to attack and contain. That is an order."

"Yes, sir!" They saluted him quickly.

"You are all dismissed," As the Rangers began to leave, Cruger then added, "Officer Carson, I need to talk to you."

Bridge turned around and stood at attention as the Rangers went to their rooms.

"Yes, Commander?"

"I would like you to watch over Miss Tantalus, if you think you are capable of doing it."

"May I ask why you think I'm fit for the job?"

"You would be able to detect who is under Mordom's influence, regardless of their normal behavior. That's why I think you're best for the job. That and your personality is very non-lethal. I think that she will feel the least threatened or bothered if you were to be her guard."

"Well then, if I'm the best qualified, then I'll take the job."

"Good to hear, Carson. You start tomorrow morning."

"Yes, sir." Bridge saluted Cruger and walked to the Common Room. He then realized what he had just agreed to do.

"Oh boy." Bridge said, taking a breath and sitting down in the nearest chair. Z and Jack were in the lounge as well, and they turned around to see what was wrong.

"What's the matter, Bridge?" Jack asked.

"I'm now officially the mechanic's bodyguard." He sat his forehead onto the palms of his hands, then ran his fingers through his hands. "Cruger thinks I'd be the best for the job, so I accepted. This's gonna be so awkward."

"Well, it gives you a chance to figure out why Sky hates her, doesn't it?"

"She's got a point, Bridge." Jack smiled.

Bridge sighed.

"You both have a point." Bridge replied after a moment's pause.

Z gasped as her game suddenly froze, and an old-fashioned DOS window popped up.

_Good afternoon. Is Officer Carson there?_, the dialogue box read.

"Um, Bridge, could you come over here for a moment?" Z asked.

"What happened?" Bridge said as he got up.

"The computer…is asking for you."

"What?" Bridge walked over and saw the DOS window. "What's it say?" Bridge read the window and took over the keyboard.

_This is Officer Carson. Who is this?_

_Hello. My name is ACTER. I am Miss Corona Tantalus's personal assistant. She is severely busy at the moment, but she has made a request for you to join her for breakfast tomorrow morning if you are not busy._

Bridge looked over at Z and Jack. They both smiled and gave him two thumbs up's.

_Tell her that I'll gladly join her wherever she would like to go at whatever time she would like to._

_She wasn't sure of your schedule, but she said that eight a.m. at Sonoma's on Main Street sounded like a good idea. She said that she would pay for her part of the bill._

_Sounds good to me. Tell her eight a.m. it is._

_I will send her the good news. Thank you for your time, Officer Carson._

The box then closed itself out, and Z's game started up again.

"Oh! Move out of my way!" Z shouted, shoving Bridge out of her chair. Syd walked in and smiled.

"Hey guys! You have to watch Sky! He's so cute amongst the D Squad cadets!" She squealed. Jack and Bridge followed Syd out the door. Z, however, found solace in her game.

Back at the lab, a message scrawled across Corona's open DOS window.

_Miss Corona, I have a message for you from Mr. Bridge._

Corona looked up for a moment a few minutes later and saw.

"What does he want?" she asked into the microphone attached to her head. The computer automatically responded.

_He's inviting you to breakfast at Sonoma's tomoroow morning at eight. Do you accept?_

"This isn't something of your doing, is it ACTER?"

_Of course not. He seemed nervous, but I assured him that you wouldn't say anything harsh to him if he asked._

"Well then, I should go shouldn't I?"

How often to men offer to meet you for breakfast and offer to pay their way? 

Corona smiled and laughed softly. "You've got a point, ACTER. Tell him I accept."

_I will do so this very instant._

The DOS window went blank and Corona continued on with her work.


	4. Look, But Never Touch

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Rangers, nor do I own the actors who play them. _

_Comment: I'd like to thank Ghostwriter, Mistress of Phoenix and the real vampire for reviewing so far. You three have made writing so much easier. Sorry for the long wait. As a side note, this chapter is my little tribute to what I think is the best Bridge-centric oneshot ever. I drew a lot of ideas from it, and this chapter begins to build on them. Now, enough of my comments! On with the story!_

The next morning was hectic for Bridge. He woke up at 6:30 and took a long shower. He then quickly shaved, brushed his teeth, then wandered to his near-barren closet. Most of the clothes inside didn't fit him anymore; he had grown three inches since he last went on a civilian clothes shopping spree. He did, however, have a lime green tee shirt with an old cereal mascot emblazoned on it, a plain black jean jacket and a faded pair of blue jeans. A pair of green shoes sat buried at the bottom of the closet, begging to be worn.

"Well, this reminds me about how badly I need to shop for some new clothes." He muttered to himself as he got dressed.

As he was fixing up his hair in the bathroom, Sky walked in.

"Hey, you're up early and all dressed up. What's the occasion?" Sky asked.

"I'm not dressed up, trust me. These're the only non-SPD clothes I own."

"Well, I have some stuff that doesn't fit me if you'd like it."

"I don't have the time to change anyways. I'm going out this morning."

"And does Cruger know this?" Sky asked as he began to undress to get in the shower. Bridge, like Sky, was not prone to sneaking out and doing things off the book like Jack.

"Yeah. He said it was okay, just as long as I came back right after." Lying to Sky was harder than it looked. But then again, being able to psychically monitor any sort of suspicion put Bridge at an advantage.

"Well, have fun. I have yet another day of discipline training. What fun." Sky sounded as sarcastic as he could get.

"Well, that happens." Bridge replied, trying to avoid a conflict so early in the morning.

"I'll live, but my sanity might not last much longer." Sky said as he stepped into the shower. "Enjoy your breakfast, buddy."

"I will." Bridge said as he finally settled with the messy mop on his head. He looked at the clock over the mirror. 7:15. He was going to be late. Bridge quickly left for the parking area.

Bridge was making good time until Cruger stopped him as he passed by the Command Center.

"Where do you think you're going, Carson?"

"I'm doing the job you assigned me to, sir. Miss Tantalus and I are having breakfast together. I thought that if she was sitting down for a while-"

"I get your point. Get going. She shouldn't be left waiting in the open for you."

"Yes, sir."

Bridge then continued on his way to breakfast.

It was eight a.m. exactly as Bridge arrived at Sonoma's. Outside waiting was Corona; she was in a pair of loose fitting jeans and a crimson and navy blue striped shirt. The stripes were set at an angle, the point of focus sitting on her left shoulder and the colors burst outward as if chasing an invisible ending point. Her pixie cut hair was roughly the length of Bridge's hair, much to his surprise, perhaps an eighth of an inch longer, and her ears with adorned with silver dragon earrings that seemed to be spitting out green flames. Her shoes were a worn pair of black basketball shoes with a circle and star logo on the insides

_I am so horridly underdressed_, Bridge mentally sighed.

"You look nice, Bridge!" Corona complimented as he walked up to her.

"This is, by far, the worst outfit I've worn in years."

"Oh, it's okay. I overdressed, but it's all I got. Besides, it's been a while since I got to walk around the world outside of SPD."

"You and me both." Bridge nervously chuckled.

"Alright, ready to eat?"

"I'm starved if you are."

"Then I'm famished." Bridge smiled and opened the door for her.

"Good morning. Table for two?" A cashier lady asked as they walked in.

"Yeah." The cashier girl signaled for a waitress to seat Corona and Bridge at a booth.

For both of them, this was something unique. Neither of them had been outside in the real world in years. Corona had left the outside world when she was eight to begin a life of confined exploration and regulated crime, and Bridge had been sheltered and home schooled all his life before entering SPD. Being in public spaces was not either of their forte's. However, Corona had the upper hand in this situation, as she learned very well how to interact with strangers. She picked up her menu and began to look at the breakfast specials. Bridge seemed confused.

"Open up the menu and look what they sell for breakfast." She said softly. Bridge saw the menu, made a facial expression suggesting that he just understood the concept, and opened it.

"First time in a restaurant, eh?"

"How could you tell?" Bridge realized that he was quickly starting to look more asinine for every second that ticked away.

"You didn't know what a menu was for. That's usually the first thing you learn in theses establishments."

"Oh." Bridge blushed as he began to search for the breakfast menu.

"You don't look like the city type anyways. Don't worry. I won't tell anybody that you didn't know the purpose of a menu." Corona smiled as she playfully joked.

Bridge looked over the menu quickly, then quickly did a visual scan of the area. It was his job to make sure Corona was safe in public places, and so far, all he had managed to do was look like a complete jackass. Within a few seconds, he took note of the trippy character in the corner. He took his glove off and scanned the man's aura. Nothing but an average Joe, most likely one with a drug problem, Bridge found out.

"What did you do?" Corona asked.

"Huh?" Bridge asked.

"What did you do with your hand…the green thing…"

"Oh. I just read that guy's aura." Bridge replied without looking at her.

After a brief pause, Corona decided to make conversation while she waited for the waitress to come back.

"Is that why you wear those gloves all the time?"

Bridge looked up at her, then decided that he was going to answer. "Yeah." He sighed, then decided to give a little explanation. "I'd get a surge of psychic energy every time somebody around me had an emotional fluctuation if I didn't wear them constantly. It'd give me a headache if it was a weak flux, and it could knock me out if it were a severe enough emotional flux. It was pretty rough for me until my family found out what was wrong."

Corona nodded, then sighed. She watched as he scanned a waitress walking by, then quickly put his glove back on.

"So what happens when people touch your skin?" She couldn't stop herself from asking the question she had a feeling he hated being asked.

Bridge looked up, shocked that she'd ask. Most people didn't care to ask. He looked up for a moment, trying to think of a way to respond. After about a minute or so, he began to answer her question.

"Honestly, people try to avoid touching me altogether. Apparently, people are scared to know what it would be like. But it happened a few times with my parents when I was little. When I was about six years old, I ended up knocking my mom unconscious while she was trying to clean up the scrapes I got on my bike. She just…suddenly passed out…when she was trying to pull the gravel out of my shin…" Bridge looked a bit hurt. The conversation was taking a wrong turn in Corona's mind. She decided to counter.

"Well, I can't be touched even if I wanted to be."

"Oh?" Bridge was confused.

"Go ahead. Try and grab my arm."

Bridge reached out to grab her arm, but once his hand got within a quarter inch of her arm, a crimson plate of light formed underneath his hand. He likened the feeling to grabbing a hold of a cold glass vase.

"It's a natural shield. I can't turn it off. I can't make it go away. I can expand and contract it, but it is always there."

"I could use one of those." Bridge joked. Corona didn't find it funny, though.

"You don't want this. You really don't. I can't hug anybody, I can't kiss anybody, and I've never known the feeling of human contact, not even a slip. At least you can feel it when somebody grabs your shoulder, or kisses you on the cheek as you get ready for school."

"That…I can't think of anything to say to that." Bridge replied. Corona looked as if she was gonna cry. "Hey, well, we should have no problems hanging out then, eh?"

Corona suppressed a laugh. "Hey, the waitress is coming. Do you know what you want to eat?"

"Yeah…but what're 'hash browns'?"

"They're a pile of sliced potatoes that are fried up and crisped to a brownish color. They're kinda like chunky latkes, but a bit greasier."

"Sounds good to me." Bridge said as the waitress walked up.

"Good morning, you two. Can I get you anything to eat?"

"Of course. I'll have two slices of toast, one egg, over easy, an order of home fries and gravy, and a cup of tea." Corona said.

"And anything for you, sir?"

Bridge wasn't aware that he was being called on, so Corona kicked him in the shin.

"Ow!" Bridge shouted softly as he grabbed his shin. He then noticed the waitress. "Oh, I'm sorry!"

"Don't worry about it. Would you like anything to eat?"

"Ugh, yeah. I'll have four slices of toast, an order of hash browns and a glass of orange juice. Thanks."

"Is that all?"

"Yeah, could you divide the bill?" Corona asked.

"Of course." The waitress walked away, and Bridge quickly scanned her.

After a minute or so, the waitress brought them glasses of water. Corona quickly took out a small bottle and shuffled a red pill into her palm, then quickly washed it down.

"What's that?" Bridge asked.

"It's a digestion aid. They use milk in the gravy, and I'd get sick from it if I didn't take the pill."

"Oh. Okay." Bridge replied. He looked up at the clock, and let it tick by a few minutes, then looked over at Corona.

"Corona?"

"Yes?" She replied, smiling politely.

"Would you mind if I read your aura?"

"Oh, no, of course not. Go right ahead." Corona sat up straight in her chair.

Bridge read her aura. It was brighter than most auras he read, and it was a shade of aquamarine.

"Wow, how bright." Bridge commented.

"I have a bright aura?" Corona asked.

"It's so beautiful…it's like the shade of ocean water."

"Really? I'd expect red, maroon or maybe even pink. Something in the red spectrum."

"Well, aquamarine is interesting. I've never seen that color in an aura before."

"So I'm special?"

"I guess you could say so." Bridge replied with a chuckle.

The food arrived ten minutes later, and Bridge was surorised. He hadn't realized how much food he had ordered until it came on two plates. They began to eat quietly, not noticing that a little boy and girl who couldn't have been any older than seven or eight years old were staring at them until Bridge caught them out of the corner of his eye. He looked over and smiled. They were sitting alone, eating silver dollar pancakes smothered in syrup.

The little girl was in a dress too fancy to be worn while at a diner; the lace on her dress was also the same lace holding her hair in little buns. The little boy was dressed in an old European school uniform.

"Hi there." He said, waving gently.

"You should take off your mittens while eating." The little girl said.

"It's bad manners." The boy added.

"His hands are cold. He has to wear his mittens or else he'll have fingercicles." Corona replied in a soft, cooing tone, speaking to the kids like a mother would.

"Oh. We're sorry, mister." The girl said, sounding sad. "I hope your hands get better."

"…Thanks." Bridge smiled.

After another minute, the little boy walked over to Corona and started poking at her shield. He had apparently been watching beforehand.

"Cool." He said. Corona pulled away. "You have cool powers. Are you a Power Ranger?"

"No, I'm not a Power Ranger."

"Then how come you got cool powers?"

"I don't know. I was born with them, I guess."

"That's cool," The girl said. "but how do we get cool powers?"

"Well, if you wanna be cool, you should do well in school, and go to the SPD Academy and train really hard. Then one day, you'll both be Power Rangers and you won't need cool powers."

"I wanna be the blue ranger!" The girl said.

"No, I wanna be the blue ranger!" The boy retorted.

"You can be the green ranger!"

"I don't wanna be a stupid green ranger!"

Bridge frowned. "Hey, the green ranger's not a bad ranger to be…"

"But blue is the bestest color!" The girl shouted.

"And the green ranger isn't as important as the blue ranger." The boy added.

Bridge sighed; the little boy was crashing his self-esteem.

"Hey now. Not nice. All rangers are important." Corona said in a soft, aggressive tone.

The kids looked at each other.

"You're right, mister. If there wasn't five rangers, then New Tech City would be toast."

"Exactly." Bridge smiled.

"But I still wanna be the blue ranger." The girl said. There was a stinted silence, then suddenly the little boy turned to face Corona.

"Will you take us to get some ice cream?" The boy suddenly asked.

"I'm sorry, I'm still having breakfast with my friend."

Bridge death-gripped Corona's arm, forgetting the shield that encased her.

"That's okay, he can come too!" The boy chirped.

Corona was beginning to get freaked out by the children. A moment later, a woman walked over, dressed in a nun's outfit.

"Mora! Dustin! I'm very disappointed in you two! Running off like that!" The woman said. She noticed Bridge and Corona and sighed. "I'm sorry if these two hooligans have been causing you trouble."

"Oh, they were no trouble. They were just curious little kids, is all." Corona felt strange with the nun next to her; she felt like the woman was trying to mentally drag her along with her. She wrapped her leg around Bridge's until the woman left. Bridge scanned their auras. Everything was black and inky; their intentions were impure and they were indeed impure of heart. The woman reflected back noting but a giant shell; she was not only lacking any human qualities, but she was literally empty on the inside as well.

"Well, that explains it." Bridge said, putting his glove back on.

"What was it?"

"Black auras. One was a shell. They were probably trying to get us arguing or separated. I could just feel it when the two kids came over…something just wasn't right…"

"Well then, thanks for being here. I would've gone with them if you weren't here."

"I see. Well, I am glad to be here then."

"I'm glad you asked me to breakfast." Corona said with a smile, leaning in closer to him.

"Huh?" Bridge was confused. "You asked me to have breakfast with you, remember? You were busy, so you had your assistant send me the message…?"

"Dammit!" She shouted, slamming her fists on the table.

"What's wrong?"

"ACTER set us up!" Corona said as she stood up. Several patrons looked up at her.

"Your personal assistant?"

"It's an AI program. It's programmed to act like a real human. It's been concerned with me lately…it thinks we should…hang out more…"

"Well, that's fine with me. I don't mind."

"It's not your job to hang out with me!"

"Well…" Bridge stood up and blushed. "it kinda is now."

"What?"

"Cruger assigned me to be your escort outside of SPD."

"…Why?"

"Well, there's this alien guy who wants to take you to see Grumm…"

Corona's eyes widened. "Mordom's here on Earth?"

"Yeah! That's the name!"

"Then we should leave."

"Let's just finish breakfast."

Corona looked at her half-eaten meal and sighed. "Okay…" She sat back down and began to eat.

The rest of the meal was a silent one, with tension thick enough to cut with a steak knife. Corona insisted that they leave immediately after the meal, which they did. As they drove back, they passed the D Squad Discipline Training Field. Corona couldn't help but laugh as she spotted Sky amongst the crowd, and Sky couldn't help but notice that Bridge was riding into SPD with an extra passenger.


	5. Bad Karma

_Disclaimer: Okay, this chapter got snapped in half. I should have the next chapter up sometime today. But for now, I have this for you. Thanks for everybody r+r'ing…you've really made this an amazing experience for me. I'm happy to be writing something that both my audience and I can enjoy for the first time in…whenever. So, continue enjoying!_

Bridge arrived in the Commons Room and found Z, Jack and Syd waiting for him.

"So…how'd it go?" Z asked in that tone that always suggests a full-on interest that is only satisfied with tons of juicy details.

"It was okay. We found out that her computer set us up on a date-thing, and a trio of black-aura'd people tried to split us up. Needless to say, it was weird."

"Ooh. Which one do you wanna divulge into first?" Syd asked.

"Neither."

Bridge sat down on a couch and began to muse on about the empty-shelled monster that had disguised itself as a nun, and why the children had such negative auras. The little girl didn't seem so bad, to be honest, but she was dressed up for a charity ball rather than a diner. The boy was noisome and grating. The sudden jumping of topics should have been a warning sign instead of an impediment. He had to keep on his toes; all suspicious activity was going to be thoroughly scanned until Mordom was caught, he decided.

He then sighed and frowned quickly, thinking about Corona's condition. It was a sad one, but nonetheless a beneficial one for Bridge. He was actually feeling a bit better about being around her, knowing that he couldn't harm her if he accidentally slipped while wearing a tee shirt or something else that would be incredibly unfortunate and potentially deadly in any other circumstance.

"…Bridge?" Z called out directly next to his ear, disrupting his train of thought. He suddenly looked up and blinked.

"What?"

"Tell us how breakfast went. Now. We're interested." Z replied with a hint of authority in her voice.

"Yeah, as your commanding officer, Bridge, I demand that you tell us all the juicy details." Jack added. Bridge frowned slightly; Jack had never used his 'authority' on him yet, but there was always a first time for everything, it seemed.

"Okay…fine…" Bridge huffed.

However, aboard Grumm's ship, all was not happiness and gossip. Mora pouted as the 'nun' patted her and her little boyfriend on their heads. The little boy, with a snap of his fingers, changed into a small Crybot, and the 'nun' changed its appearance as well. With a black cloud of smoke, its appearance changed to that of Mordom.

"We didn't get that blasted Power Ranger away from that girl!" She pouted. "I was in my nicest dress and everything!" She threw a hissy fit, knocking her Crybot friend off the right guardrail into the never-ending pit below.

"Miss Mora, do not fret." Mordom said as it patted Mora gently on the head.

"Mordom, I'm upset! We were supposed to get that girl and make her have tea parties with me!"

"You insolent child!" Grumm shouted as he barged in. He had been awaiting the arrival of Mora and Mordom, and he was livid that they failed to retrieve the woman. "The pirate girl Corona is not a play toy! She is part of my grand scheme to rule Earth! How could you let her slip through your fingers?" His eyes glowed red.

"She has an SPD escort with her, Emperor Grumm." Mordom replied. "We were unable to peel him away from her."

"Why didn't you just attack the SPD escort?"

"He was a Ranger, Emperor. One must be stealthy when dealing with SPD. We tried to draw their attentions away from each other, but they were too intent on staying a pair for us to make our move."

"Curses! Cruger is testing my patience, and he will pay dearly for it! I want you to do everything within your power to bring the girl to me, do you understand Mordom?"

"Yes, Emperor." Mordom answered, giving a slight bow out of respect. As Grumm began to walk off, Mordom cleared his throat. "Emperor, I do have good news for you if you wish to hear it."

"Tell me."

"I have a second student here on Earth. If you wish, I can also attempt to get in contact with him. He is much more…open to persuasion…than the girl is, and he is at the same level of skill as the girl."

"I would prefer the girl, but this other student of yours sounds promising. How much more would I need to pay you for both of them?"

"Oh, this is on the house. I would love nothing more than to have my students back under my wings, and I would love to see my bright little boy again." Mordom said in a warm tone.

"If you want, I can send Krybots with you to distract the Rangers while you spirit away your students."

"Oh, that would be most wonderful, Emperor. But I warn you, I will not be able to just…'spirit away' my students in mere moments. I wish to send out a massive attack to both distract the Rangers and give me time to retrieve my students."

"This will cost you, you know."

"I am willing to pay the price, my Emperor."

"Then I will need your assistance in my next attack. That will be your payment."

"As you wish, my Emperor." Mordom quickly bowed.

Back at the SPD's B Squad Commons Room, Bridge was finishing up his lengthy report about the scene at the diner.

"So I scanned their auras…it was weird. The children had these big black auras…and the nun…she was nothing but a shell."

"What do you mean, 'a shell'?" Syd asked.

"Like, the only kind of aura that showed up was a shell; it's like, there's a barrier around the body, and the middle is empty…the aura is incomplete because the body is nothing but what you see on the outside. Do you get it now?"

"Oh. How weird!" Syd replied.

"So the nun and the children were trying to split you two up? Crazy." Z added.

"Well, I think they were monsters. Especially the little girl; that one tried way too hard to fit in."

"Oh, fun." Z said. She seemed to not particularly care about the way the girl looked. "Well, we should all get down to weapons trai-" The alarm sounded. "well, forget that, then." They got up and went into the Command Center.

Sky was there ten seconds later than the rest of the Rangers; he entered with an irritated look on his face which briefly was focused on Bridge, but then dropped and replaced with his 'perfect soldier' façade as he stood at attention and looked up at Cruger.

"Rangers, there is a disturbance at a small oil refinery. I need you to stop the Krybots from causing any accidents from happening there. Hurry, on the double."

The Rangers saluted silently and ran to their vehicles.

Ten minutes later, the Rangers arrived on the scene. Mordom was waiting for them outside.

"Ah, Officer Tate, how nice of you to visit me. You should have brought Miss Tantalus with you."

"She's where she belongs, and you'll be heading in that direction pretty soon." Sky retorted.

"Alright! Let's clean this guy's clock!" Jack said. The Rangers whipped out their Delta Morphers.

"SPD! Emergency!"

Within moments, they were transformed into Rangers and they were ready to battle.

"Ah, the children wish to play…I'll give you some new friends to play with!" Mordom replied. It then tossed two Crybot orbs into the air, releasing roughly two dozen Krybots onto the field between Mordom and the Rangers.

"Now, leave me alone! I have a job to do!" Mordom turned around and walked towards the plant.

"I can't let you do that!" Sky said, cutting a path through the Krybots.

"Sky! Get back here!" Jack shouted.

"This'll be quick, don't worry!" Sky replied as he approached Mordom.

"You dare to defy me?" Mordom said as he turned around.

Without moving an inch, Mordom damaged Sky and sent sparks flying through the air. However, that's only what it seemed like to the untrained eye. In reality, Mordom had moved and attacked Sky with his dagger so fast, that not even Sky had seen it coming. Sky stood up and configured his Delta Blaster. Mordom pulled out several shurikens and tossed them in Sky's direction. Sky, with his ever-watchful eyes and amazing reflexes, dodged all the shurikens and fired a direct hit to Mordom's chest simultaneously. Mordom was taken aback as it held its chest.

"Surrender now, Mordom!" Sky shouted. "We'll go easy on you."

"Oh, you should worry about your own health, Officer Tate." Sky spotted several Krybots pushing several drums of oil out of the refinery. Sky shot at the Krybots, piercing through it and striking a barrel, causing it to ignite the entire six-pack of oil barrels. Needless to say, the explosion was massive, taking out most of the parking lot, and all of the Krybots stationed in it. Mordom was rocked forwards from the explosion, and Sky was tossed backwards into a few Krybots behind him.

"Sky! I told you to stand down!" Jack said as he shot down the Krybots closing in around him.

Sky got up, making sure to take out the Krybots he landed on. However, Mordom had escaped in the mere moments it took for him to get back up. Sky threw a small temper tantrum.

"Dammit!" He shouted, tossing his Delta Blaster to the ground.

"Sky! Stop it!" Jack ordered.

Sky just stood in place, trying to calm himself down before he suddenly powered down, started tugging on his hair, and started howling madly in a vicious rage. After a moment, he picked up his Delta Blaster, powered down and headed back to his Patrol Cycle. He knew what was coming.

The Rangers returned, the blame was turned to Sky for messing up the mission, but somehow he was commended.

"Despite the loss of materials, you prevented Grumm from getting his hands on it. Furthermore, the destruction of said materials was nothing more than an uncontrollable accident. The shot went through the Crybot; it isn't like you intentionally meant to fire at the oil drums." Sky looked relieved for the moment, but Cruger had more pressing matters at hand. The oil refinery was nothing more than a distraction. The real trouble was hurtling towards Earth; in fact, it was striking the surface that that very moment. An alarm went off as a massive collision reading flashed on the scanners.

"Sir, the ship has crashed into an abandoned region outside of New Tech City, sir." Kat reported.

"Officer Carson, return to your post. Officers Delgado, Landors, and Drew, you are dismissed. Kat, you are also dismissed. Officer Tate, remain here."

The four dismissed Rangers looked at each other in awe; something happened, and Cruger didn't want them. As confused as they were, they bought into it and left. Kat, however, knew what Cruger wanted, and nodded silently before leaving.

As soon as the room was cleared, Cruger walked up to Sky and gave him a very warm look in an attempt to bring Sky to a calm.

"At ease." Sky relaxed his pose.

"What is it, Sir?" Sky asked.

"We saw that the S.P.S. Tantalus-"

"Sir, if you're asking me to-"

"Don't interrupt me, Sky." His tone was stern and cold towards his usually obedient officer.

"Yes, Sir." Sky's nerves were showing.

"Sky, I want you to go inside the Tantalus and retrieve any recorded documents or data entries that recorded the last moments of the ship."

"You do know that it was commandeered by intergalactic pirates nearly fifteen years ago, and therefore is no longer SPD property, Sir…?"

"Don't you dare question what I know again, Sky, or I'll put you on a permanent leave from active duty. Do you understand me?" Cruger was trying his hardest to maintain his temper, but Sky's relentless lack of respecting authority was severing his control slowly.

"Yes, Sir." Sky looked wounded by the comment.

"Now. Listen to me and keep your mouth shut. I know you are very unwilling to do this mission that I am assigning to you, but this is a one-man job and you're the only cadet that knows the insides of the shuttle. I want you to go in there and retireve any kind of backlogged information on the final moments of the ship. I want to confirm that it was Grumm who destroyed the crew. Do you understand, Sky?"

"Yes, Sir." Sky regained his composure, but not without a sense that a sudden draft of karma was flying at him.

"Now go. I fear that Grumm will have Krybots littered around the area, trying to salvage what they can, but I am confident that you will be able to defend yourself properly. Get going."

Sky saluted Cruger, then turned around to head for his Patrol Cycle.

"Sky, wait." Cruger said. Sky turned around. Cruger summoned his inner parental unit and began to talk with a soft voice. "Listen, I'm greatly sorry that I'm pressuring you with this assignment, but sending Corona alone would not only be a bad idea as far as morale and ethics goes, but it would give Mordom a chance to attack her."

"Sir, what about me?"

"You have SPD technology on your side, Sky. Corona doesn't. Now go, you're wasting time."

Sky nodded and left. He knew he was going to regret this day by its end.


	6. The Space Patrol Scout Tantalus

_Disclaimer: Sorry for the long delay. I ended up having to rewrite the fight scene in this chapter. I love this chapter, and I hope you enjoy it as well. Thanks to all who've reviewed so far._

By the time Sky arrived at the scene, it was dusk and the only thing that aided in sight were the fires caused by the crash.

The S.P.S. Tantalus was one of SPD's first scout ships into the galaxy, in search of crime and corruption. How ironic that its ultimate fate would be to house the very criminals it captured amongst its various revolving door cast of crewmates. The pirates upheld the SPD code of honor loosely; they stole, lied, and cheated their way into the pockets of the rich, but they were always first in line to aid SPD and their affiliates (if it was assured that they weren't turned in, of course…) along with dishing out their own style of vigilante justice.

The pirates (who would call themselves The Marauders) stuck to the standard system of SPD ranking: A Squad did all of the high-priority missions and had a set of five officers; B Squad did detailed work and cleaned up after A Squad, bolstering another set of five members. C Squad did menial jobs such as recon work and mercenary jobs for SPD, along with various heist jobs and quick swindles, and had a group number of five; D squad was the lowest class and was usually used as a distraction group, as every member of D Squad possessed talents, abilities, or skills that were critical in catching the attention of C Squad's victims, and there were only four of them.

D Squad was the smallest in size, but largest in potential; the group was always comprised of children and young adults, and the ship's captain took a liking to this group above all. He had them put on musical shows and plays, although he occasionally had them practice thieving and robbing on fairly unprotected areas, and he trained them to be excellent warriors of various fields of combat. However, as free, unobligated, and low ranking as they were, they always seemed to feel wanted, needed, and respected.

Sky sighed as he inspected the hull of the ship. He never wanted to see the ship again, but as fate would have it, he couldn't escape it.

"Welcome back." He muttered to himself as he began to climb up the ladder to the main access point.

Sky walked in expecting the smell of death to be overwhelming, but when he made his way out of the depressurizing chamber, a warm smell of patchouli and mixed flowers rose up to greet him. If the dents in the walls and the disheveled furniture hadn't made mentions to a massacre happening in the ship, Sky would've thought that he had suddenly warped onto another ship entirely.

An eerie reminder of days gone by sat on the couch; a splintered violin and a snapped bow had been half-smushed into the cushions. Paintings scattered around the coffee table drenched in various colors of blood stuck to the floor and furniture, but refused to give off a strong odor that came with coagulated blood. The whole room was cold; Sky felt like dozens of cold hands were reaching out to drag him to the rest of them as he traveled through the lounge, towards the dormitories.

There were four common rooms, each with three rooms jutting off from it, and although the SPD code of co-ed rooms was nullified, the rule stating that all forms of fornication were subject to an ejection of both parties was still intact. Nobody had ever been ejected, although boys and girls sharing rooms was a common sight (especially among pairs that had been together before joining The Marauders).

Sky entered the D Squad Commons and took the first door on his left. The smell of old books and dried paint surrounded him like an airborne plague as he entered the room.

The bed to the left was shrouded in red; red sheets, red pillows, red plush comfort pillow, and even a red hand camera sat on the pillow. Sky smiled and took the camera. He checked the memory card holder and found a small chip inside. He smiled and pulled out the chip, sliding it into the small pocket on the inside of his uniform's jacket. He then looked at the rest of the room, trying to salvage what he could.

The night stand separating the two beds held several things, including a picture of the room's previous owners; a young boy and girl, who were dressed in a blue tuxedo and a red cocktail dress respectively, smiling brightly at the camera in an attempt to show off how tired they were from their last gig. Sky frowned a bit, and turned the picture face down. He then bent down and looked underneath the bed on the right, digging out the blue comfort pillow that had been tossed there during the owner's last visit. He then turned around and grabbed the red comfort pillow, then took a metal suitcase in the walk-in closet. He opened up the suitcase, shoved the red comfort pillow on the bottom, then placed the blue pillow on top of it.

Sky then headed toward the front of the ship, dodging fallen debris and turning corners, quickly entering the main area of the ship. With a gentle swing of his right arm, his force field was made and he used it to smash into the control room door at the end of the hallway. Both the strength of Sky's force field and the speed at which he was going was enough to severely dent and shatter the locks on the steel doors, allowing Sky to use the edge of his shield like a crowbar and wedge it open. He walked in and slowly looked around, gently setting the suitcase down on the ground. He stared at the wide commander's bay window that still was spattered in blood, in the empty command center that was devoid of corpses, and spotted a set of lights turn on, indicating that something had just turned on. He turned around to his right and noticed the security station, although half of the monitors were smashed, he could tell that the machine was hardly touched. Somebody wanted the records kept intact, it seemed.

"Well, well, well, Mordom, it seems your ego has been your demise." Sky commented with a smile. He picked up the suitcase and walked over to the security station. Within a few moments and a few keystrokes, he saved the computer's entire security camera backlog onto a single removable zip disk. He removed the disk and smiled as he opened up the suitcase and slid the disk between the pillows, making sure not to scratch the disk's smooth surface. He then closed up his suitcase, shut the security station down and began to leave.

He got to the doorframe and heard a noise. He turned and spotted a Krybot.

"Oh no you don't…" Sky said, chasing down the Krybot. He heard a mini-explosion before he turned the corner, followed by a shout.

"Dammit! Why are you following me?" It was Corona. Sky rounded the corner and spotted Corona shouting at Bridge as he was holstering his regulation pistol.

Sky looked at the situation and assessed that Bridge had obviously shot the Krybot as it turned the corner, and that the Krybot, from its position, may have attempted to attack Corona. However, the reasoning as to why both of them were in the hallway was still not apparent.

"I was just doing what I was to-" Bridge noticed Sky at the end of the hall and nearly jumped. "Sky! What are you doing here?" Bridge asked.

"I'm here on a mission. What're you two doing here?"

"This is my old home, Schuyler. I'm here to see if I left anything behind." Corona replied. She then pointed at Bridge. "He's the suspicious one; he's been stalking me all night!"

"Cruger assigned me to keep an eye on you and keep Grumm from getting his hands on you." Bridge replied.

"I can take care of myself!" Corona shouted.

"So that's what you two were doing together this morning?" Sky asked.

"That was a misunderstanding. My stupid AI program set us up without my permission."

"Sure it did." Sky said with a sly grin.

"Oh shut up." She then spotted the suitcase. "Hey! That's my suitcase!"

"I'm using it for the moment, and I'll give it back when I'm done. That is, if you can behave yourself until we return to base. I'll see to it that Cruger goes easy on you for sneaking out."

"Sky, give her a bit of a break. I mean, if my former residence crashed into the ground after not being in it for a while, I'd visit to see if everything was okay, too." Bridge replied.

Sky looked down. He had to admit, Bridge had a point. "Alright, I'll mark it down as a moment of curiosity…if I'm asked. Now let's go. None of us need to be here anymore."

As Sky began to walk down the hallway towards the auxiliary exit, Corona cleared her throat. "Schuyler, what happened to the memory chip in my camera?"

"I don't know."

"And my comfort pillow?"

"Not sure."

"And what about-"

"Shut it!" She jumped slightly, then sighed. Sky was being an asshole again. The sounds of several more Krybots approaching alerted the trio, giving Sky and Bridge a reason to draw their pistols. Two Krybots jumped out in front of Sky and two of them ran up behind Bridge. The sound of more footsteps was becoming heavier.

"Oh crap. We're screwed." Bridge replied.

"Not necessarily…Schuyler…?" Corona seemed to be making a reference Sky understood.

"Absolutely not."

"Fine, the three of us can die because you're being selfish."

Sky huffed. "Fine. Let's make this quick." Sky and Corona stood back to back, then quickly threw up their shields. Corona's natural shield expanded from her body; it seemed to be a bit painful for her to be doing it. Sky dropped the suitcase gently behind his back. "Alright now, Bridge, get between us." The Krybots were intent on closing in around the trio, which was becoming a bad situation, since more of them were coming down the hallway from both directions.

Bridge gave Sky a strange look, then wedged himself between Corona and Sky, facing Sky's back. "That good?" Bridge asked.

"Of course. Now gimme your hands and get this over with."

Corona sighed, then interlocked her fingers with Sky's. The shields began to meld at the sides, turning both a shade of lavender.

"Your hands are cold." Sky commented.

"It's not exactly warm in here." Corona chimed back.

As the shields were beginning to fully meld, a Bluehead ran around the corner and fired at Corona. She made a pained noise and flinched as the Bluehead struck part of the shield that was still red.

"I wish this would happen faster…" Corona commented.

As soon as the lavender shield was finished, Sky and Corona began to move in Sky's forward direction. The sudden jolt of movement caught Bridge off guard and sent him falling face-first into the inside of the shield. Luckily it didn't cause any damage.

"Oops, sorry Bridge." Corona said as Bridge pushed himself back up. "Grab the suitcase and walk with my feet."

"Okay." Bridge grabbed the suitcase and slowly walked along with Sky and Corona As more Krybots and Blueheads started moving in, Sky and Corona became more and more mentally strained by having to withstand all of their attacks.

"Alright, I'm gonna charge the ones in front of us. Get ready." Sky warned. Three seconds later, Sky bent into a running position, then started to sprint. The expected response was for Bridge and Corona to fly forwards, but neither of them did. In fact, this time they kept up. They rammed into the front line of Krybots, shooting an energy wave through the ranks and smashing the front line into the back lines. It completely decimated the ranks and cleared a path for the trio to escape. However, Corona was having difficulties holding up the flank. Her shield, even though it was reinforced by Sky's shield, was not strong enough to hold up to several shots connecting at the same time.

"Schuyler, turn around! This really hurts! I don't know how much longed I can keep this up…"

"Guys, lemme morph and draw fire. I'm not doing anybody any good by being wedged in here." Bridge suddenly interjected.

"Okay, here's what we do. I'll turn around, and you can drop your shield, and Bridge can morph."

"Got it." Bridge and Corona simultaneously replied. Sky suddenly turned to his right, giving Corona a chance to let go of Sky's right hand and letting Bridge out of the shield on the safe side with the suitcase in hand. Bridge set the suitcase down as soon as Sky was facing the Krybots and Blueheads.

"SPD! Emergency!" Bridge called out, morphing into the B Squad Green Ranger in record time. He quickly set up his Deltamax Striker.

"After we destroy these Krybots, we're going to split up. Bridge, you're going to escort Miss Tantalus to her vehicle through the exit down that hallway, and I'm going to sweep the rest of this ship. Is that understood?"

"Affirmative." Corona dropped her shield as Bridge replied.

Bridge took aim over a corner of Sky's shield and began shooting. He quickly took out the Bluehead but was nearly hit while the two Blueheads that had just run up in front of Sky fired at what little of Bridge's body was outside a shield.

"Whoa!" Bridge ducked and fired off several shots in response. A Bluehead snuck up behind the trio and fired at Corona. She tried to put up her shield, but the well-aimed shot to the head knocked her down. Bridge caught her and quickly retaliated by firing off several shots and taking out the last of the Krybots that had been closing in on her.

"Sky, Corona's down. What should we do?"

"Get that Bluehead!" Sky replied. Bridge replied by firing three shots straight into its helmet, causing major sparks to erupt from its head and dropping it like a potato sack. Bridge went to help Corona up, but she pushed him off.

"Hey, I'm okay, I'm okay…" Corona said as she got up. "Just a little fall, needed to recover, and I'm okay now." She smiled as she clenched her fist. The shield around her hand began to elongate and shot up to a point, imitating a large spike.

"Okay, I'm ready." Corona said, charging towards several Krybots that had just arrived up the back area. As she jammed the shield spike into the Krybots, she punctured their armor, ruptured their internal mechanics, and utterly destroyed them. As Bridge took care of the rest of the Krybots in front of Sky, Sky dropped his shield and morphed as well.

"Okay, you two go that way. I'll meet you at the front." Corona and Bridge nodded, then headed towards the entrance.

Sky grabbed the suitcase and took the other way out of the ship, taking out the Krybots who had snuck in for a sneak attack.

"This is almost too easy!" Sky said with a smile. He ran outside the door to see a horrifying scene; nearly four dozen Krybots waiting near the bottom of the ship, waiting for Bridge and Corona to run through the front door. He started drawing fire as soon as Bridge and Corona ran out the door. He leaped off the back of the ship and started firing at the Krybots. He destroyed several of them before they began to respond; this gave Bridge enough time to take out all the Blueheads, while Corona made her way through the Krybots with Sky's backup fire.

By the time Sky reached the ground, most of the Krybots and Blueheads were destroyed. "Guys! Let's go! I see more Krybots coming this way!" Corona shouted.

"We gotta get rid of them, then!" Sky replied.

"No, it's too risky!" Bridge shot back.

"We can't let them take the ship!"

"Why not? You have what Cruger wants, right? Nothing else is important!"

"It's just…" Sky turned around and sighed. It was a lost cause to go back, so he dropped it. "let's just go." Bridge and Sky powered down as they reached their Patrol Cycles. The trio returned to SPD Headquarters promptly.

As they arrived at Headquarters, Sky briskly walked past Corona and Bridge, which pissed Corona off.

"Hey, aren't you even going to thank us?"

"You shouldn't have been there anyways."

"You would've been dead without us!" Corona replied.

"Doesn't change the point of the matter. That was my job, and you're not authorized to be there."

"Damn you, Schuyler! Why can't you just drop the asshole attitude?"

Sky didn't respond. He was too busy caught up in the debriefing to listen. Besides, he had some clips of his own to watch.


	7. Omega, Sonoma, Nova, Corona

_Disclaimer: If I owned SPD, the show would have been awesome…r. Enjoy._

Sky entered the Command Center and smiled. "I retrieved the security video logs, Sir."

"Great job, Sky. For a reward, I'm giving you the night off while the rest of the team is in a late night training session. Now, I'll take the log disk and you can go on your way."

Sky opened up the suitcase, took the disk out and handed it to Cruger, then closed up the suitcase and walked back to the Commons Room, the suitcase tightly gripped in hand.

He walked in, encountering a stern looking Bridge. He became a bit nervous; Bridge never looked upset.

"Hey Bridge." Sky said, trying to appease the anger that was bubbling beneath the surface of Bridge's skin.

"Oh sure, you'll acknowledge me, but you won't give Corona the time of day." He replied calmly, but his voice was stern, harsh, even biting. Z and Syd knew something was up. Jack was too busy playing video games to notice. Z poked him to get his attention.

"Listen, this isn't any of your business, okay Bridge?"

"You can't even thank her for saving your tail? That's a common courtesy!"

"I have my reasons for not speaking with her!"

"Oh, you won't be nice to her, but the first chance you get to beat on her like she's a dog, you're all over her! And you're such a model citizen, aren't you?" Jack, Z, and Syd were definitely paying attention now. They had never seen Bridge so upset over anything before.

"Cadets!" Cruger called out from the doorway. "Stop this bickering this instant! Jack, Bridge, Z and Syd, report to training immediately. You're going to be late."

"What about Sky?" Syd asked.

"That's none of your concern. Just go." Sky walked into his room as the rest of B Squad left for the training grounds.

"Bridge, what was that about?" Syd asked as she caught up with him down the hallway.

"He acts like she's nothing more than a dog. It's ridiculous. I won't stand for it any longer."

"You gotta elaborate on this one, Bridge."

"I will out on the field."

Back in the Commons Room, Sky had set the suitcase in his room and smiled. He took his jacket off and took the video chip out of the pocket it was being concealed in. He walked over to the small, flat screen TV and pressed on the flap protecting the less commonly used controls. He spotted the video chip input and slid the male end of the chip in, turned on the monitor, plopped himself on the couch and began to watch.

_A young woman's face was on the screen. She was about 12 years old, with brown hair and brightly shining blue eyes. A pair of dragon earrings hung from her ears and she was dressed in a red SPD cadet-style uniform._

"_Welcome to the S.P.S. Tantalus. I shall be your guide for this tour; you may call me Miss Corona. My name means 'crown', so you'd better treat me like a queen!" She giggled happily. "Oh, I'm kidding." She flung the camera around to reveal that she was in the Common Lounge, the first room Sky had entered when boarding the ship just hours ago._

"_I am but a lowly D Squad cadet! Oh, the drama that comes with being in D Squad! Oh, but I have friends."_

_Corona went closer to a couch seating several people, but the lens was centered on two young women. The girls looked very similar to each other; in fact, they could pass for twins. They both had long, milky white hair that looked like somebody had coated it in mother-of-pearl. Their eyes were violet and their smiles were sparkling. They wore SPD cadet-style uniforms as well; the girl on the left was wearing a blue uniform, and the one on the right was wearing a green uniform._

"_Meet Omega-" She shifted to the girl in blue, "and Sonoma." She shifted to the girl in green. "We are the S.P.S. Tantalus's D Squad. We're missing a yellow member…" Corona shifted the camera to look back at her. "will you join us for a trip around the universe, spreading the joys of music, fun, and mischief to every planet we land on?"_

Sky smiled. "Man, that's so lame. But you can't expect anything less from Corona..." He walked over to the snack generator and made himself a bowl of popcorn. This was going to be a good movie, after all.

He continued watching the video for the next few hours until the rest of B Squad came back. By the time they had returned, he had turned the television off, cracked open a book and fallen silent.

"So, how was training?" Sky asked softly.

"It was hell on earth, Sky." Syd replied, plopping herself on the couch next to Sky.

"Four hours on a night raid mission…it was so brutal!" Z added as she walked into the room she shared with Syd.

"It wasn't all that bad, ladies!" Jack rebutted as he dropped himself onto an orange beanbag chair.

Bridge walked into his room without replying at all. Sky frowned slightly.

"So Sky, how's that book?" Syd asked as she peered at the title. "_Regeneration. _Interesting title name. Is it a book about reptiles?"

Sky gave her a questioning look. "When would I ever care about reading a book about reptiles…?"

"Well, I don't know what books you read."

"Well, maybe I don't want to be interrupted with people asking me about my books." He gave the evil eye to Syd, who quickly cringed and got up and away from Sky.

"I'm going to bed. I have a headache." Sky said as he looked at the clock. It was one am; four hours later than Sky was used to going to bed. He slid a bookmark in his book and went into his room. Moments later, Bridge promptly walked out wrapped up in a bedsheet and carrying his pillow.

"Looks like I'm sleeping on the couch tonight." Bridge sharply replied.

"Bridge!" Syd said. "You're dropping to Sky's level!"

Bridge looked at her, then frowned.

"Well, I just want to avoid him. I'm still a little upset. She doesn't deserve to be treated like an animal, like I've said before. She's a human being who deserves a little respect. She built all of our stuff, ya know, from our patrol vehicles to our zords. Sky needs to show her a bit of respect. Then I'll be fine."

Syd sighed, then turned on the TV. A frozen image of a young teen girl staring down at the screen flickered.

"What's this?" Syd asked. "The image's frozen."

"I know!" Bridge said as he popped the flap open; his guess was confirmed as he saw the video chip in the input drive. "Sky's smart, but he's not good at lying. I knew he took the video chip out of Corona's camera."

"What?" Z asked, confused.

"On the ship, Corona accused him of stealing a bunch of stuff from her room, including a video chip for a hand camera."

"Well, I'm interested in knowing what's on the video…aren't you?" Jack asked. "I mean, he left off looking at the girl…I wonder if there're any other girls…maybe doing something naughty…maybe that's why he was hiding it."

"Good point." Z added. She sat down on the couch and smiled. "I say that we should watch it."

"I hope you don't mind girl on girl action…" Jack slyly said. "I think it's his kind of thing."

"Jack! Gross!" Z replied as she pulled slightly back away from him.

"Well, he looks like the jealous type…I don't think he could stand watching a porn with another man in it."

"Jack, could you stop it?" Syd asked as she tossed a pillow at his head. Jack let his lower body phase through the couch, letting the pillow fly straight over his head. He then pushed himself back up and smiled.

"You missed." Jack said with a smile.

"Okay, I'll go check and see if he's asleep." Bridge said, getting up. He walked into the room to an unfamiliar scene. The suitcase was cracked open, and the blue comfort pillow was on Sky's bed. Sky was fast asleep and snoring, his head nestled on one end of the pillow, his left arm slung loosely over the other end. He was so tired that he fell asleep in his uniform. His copy of _Regeneration_ sat on the nightstand dividing the two beds. Bridge slowly picked it up, making very sure he didn't wake Sky up. He then quickly changed into a pair of lounge pants and walked out with the book. He sat down as Jack waiting for him to come out.

"All clear?"

"I took his book. What do you think?"

"Alright, let's go." Jack started up the movie.

_The girl in the paused frame raised the camera up. It was Corona, dressed in a red cocktail dress with her hair in pigtails._

"_Good morning, Tantalus crew. This is Lady Corona-"_

_Omega popped her head into the frame She was wearing a purple pantsuit which made her eyes looks brighter. Her hair was braided back and still shimmered like a pearl as the light touched it. "and Lady Omega!"_

"_And we will be showing you around and having you meet the crew members!"_

"_How fun is that? We may even be able to get a quick shot of Commander Alpha!"_

_Both of them squealed._

"_Oh, Commander Alpha is wonderful! She's so brave!" Omega said._

"Their commander is a girl?" Syd asked.

"Awesome!" Z added.

"She's pretty!" 

"_She's my older sister!" Omega cheered._

"_Really?"_

"_Yeah!"_

"_You lucky girl!"_

"_But you have Nova!"_

_Corona gave her a look. "Oh yes, just what I always wanted." She deadpanned._

"Wow, what a dirty porn." Syd commented as she looked at Jack.

"Hey, the jumper was misleading." Jack replied. Syd just shook her head.

"_Well, let's go up the ranks, shall we? Let's start with Sonoma and Nova, then we go to C Squad, the B Squad, then A Squad, then Commander Alpha."_

"_I can hear Nova shouting about how we should be practicing."_

"_Him and Mordom hounding us all day."_

"Mordom? Like, the criminal assassin Mordom?" Z said.

"It was a crew member of the ship? No wonder why that ship got taken out!"

_Corona dropped her voice slightly and began to imitate a male. "We were given orders to be perfectly prepared for the concert tonight at 0800 hours; it is our duty as D Squad to uphold these orders given to us." The two then giggled._

"_That's only funny because it's true. That's also sad for the same reason." Omega replied._

"_Let's just go find Nova and Sonoma." As they walked down the corridor, Omega cleared her throat. The camera was turned to face her._

"_Yes, Miss Omega?"_

"_I wanted to talk about Nova while we looked for him."_

"_Sure. What do you have to say?"_

"_Well, I find him to be a completely boring for most of the time he's awake, unless he's doing one of two things."_

"_Those things would be…?"_

"_Playing his bass and fighting." Omega replied with a strange smile; it looked like she admired those qualities in him._

"_Oh, I see." Corona seemed to agree._

"_Well, when he's playing his bass and singing with us, he becomes this…entity…that's removed from his regular personality. He becomes a fun-loving, jovial…human, almost."_

"_So you're saying he's not human?" Corona asked with a laugh._

"_All I'm saying is if you should check and see if he's a Tandarian, with all the sitting around he does!" They laughed._

"_And the fighting part?"_

"_Well, when he's fighting, that's all that seems to be on his mind; getting the job done. He becomes this unstoppable force of nature, uncaring of what he destroys…he becomes a robot, almost. It's very interesting, because he's docile and non-aggressive by common nature. On Domoria, they would surely study the gravitational alignment inside his body to see if his pull was too strong…Domorians with a large gravitational pull tend to have sudden psychotic episodes due to the pressure on their brains from the gravitational compression. Domorians with a strong gravitational push, on the other hand, can't seem to ever find the will to fight. Luckily, the Commander, Sonoma and I have very neutral gravitational fields." Omega sounded like a textbook._

"_Most doctors on Earth would just check him for schizophrenia. However, the changes seem too controlled for that to be the case. I think it's just certain modes he goes into; some Earthlings are able to do that. He just does it with finesse."_

"_Well, to be honest, I can't think of a Domorian who exhibits such extremes in personality like Nova. Much like our birth-given abilities, we can be peaceful and protective, or we can be merciless and destructive. We really don't have extremes that he can seamlessly snap in and out of."_

"_I've noticed."_

"_Hey, I hear a violin coming from the Commons Room. Let's go in." The two were outside the D Squad Commons room now; the faint sound of a violin and bass could be heard from the inside. Omega opened the door to reveal a pair of pre-teens tuning instruments._

_A young man in a blue tuxedo with an untamed mass of brown hair comparable to that of Bridge's was tuning an old electric bass while Sonoma, who was wearing a brown lolita dress with pockets was tuning what appeared to be a slightly larger and flatter version of an electric violin._

"_Nova! Sonoma!" The young man and Sonoma turned around to face Corona._

"_Oh dear! You're late for practice!" Sonoma said._

"_Yeah, exactly twelve minutes and forty-eight seconds late." Nova replied._

"Wow, those two weren't kidding, were they?" Z commented as she came back with popcorn. Jack and Syd made a noise indicating that they agreed, but Bridge was reading Sky's book too intently to notice her comment.

"_Well, we're here now, right?" Corona said._

"_Yeah. So let's get going. We've tuned our instruments already! You're behind! Let's go!" Nova snapped at Omega and Corona._

"_Geez! We're getting to it!" Corona said as she set down the camera and turning it off._

_The next scene opened with the D Squad crew carrying their various instruments backstage and setting up their stage. Corona set her acoustic hybrid guitar to her left and her pure electric guitar to the right, then hooked her electric up to the amp behind her. Nova hooked up his electric bass to a different amp, Sonoma took the time to tune her violin one last time before plugging it in, and Omega attached a yellow clip to the end of her green, flute-like instrument. _

"_Good luck, you guys!" The voice behind the camera cheered. The voice was light and cheery, like that of a soccer mom, but also disciplined and orderly, like a police officer._

"_Thank you, Commander!" Omega replied._

"_This is a great honor to have your blessing for this, Commander." Nova added._

"_Just play well and you'll get the rest of the week off." Sonoma and Corona seemed to enjoy this comment given by the Commander. "Now, I must take leave. Alpha, Beta, and Delta from B Squad will be here surveying the area and watching your performance. Want me to leave the camera with them?"_

"_Of course, Commander." Corona replied._

"_Then I shall depart. Now, take care and remember; this is supposed to be a fun event, not a military demonstration…right Nova?" It was painfully obvious that the comment was meant only for Nova._

"_Of course, Commander." He gave a slight head bow in acknowledgement._

"_Good. Have a nice night and I will see you back on the Tantalus!"_

"_Yes, ma'am!" They gave the traditional SPD salute before the Commander departed._

"Wow, that's weird. Why would a bunch of pirates be giving our salute?" Syd asked.

"The _Tantalus _used to be an SPD space scout before the pirates took it over. They went from being a ragtag band of criminals to being a highly organized group of elite mercenaries headed by a leader who was comparable to Cruger himself in terms of leadership and strategizing. However, since they were mercenaries, and they weren't hired often, they did a lot of criminal activities, mostly looting warehouses or the homes of aristocrats. They were known for three things until their sudden disbandment due to the massacre of the entire crew. One, they were highly trained fighters; even the D Squad could function as a last resort army, ad it was usually only comprised of teenage members with little more than their own natural abilities at their disposal with a very minimal weapons training background. Two, they were skilled in all forms of entertainment; the D Squad being infamous for being a jazz band, the C Squad being an actor's guild of sorts, and the A and B Squads occasionally joined up to become an improv act. Three, they were known for having a shaky alliance with SPD, which was why they were, in a sense, allowed to loot the homes of the rich to feed and clothe themselves and the poor people they passed their unwanted goods to." Bridge rattled off the information like a talking encyclopedia without ever looking up from Sky's book.

"So they were like Jack and I?" Z asked.

"In a much larger scale, very much so. Although I'm doubtful that you were ever hired by SPD to fight Grumm on various planets with unnaturally low manpower." Bridge turned the page of the book, finally deciding to join in with the movie watching.

_The camera was set on a head of a B Squad member as the curtains pulled back to reveal the D Squad waiting to play. After waiting three seconds after the curtain touched the sides of the stage, Nova started playing a jazz riff on his bass. After two measures, Omega, Sonoma, and Corona joined in, and after six more measures of the eclectic mix, Nova began to sing._

"_Dark blue skies_

_Open up for me_

_Bring back my sunshine_

_So I can finally see…"_

_Corona joined in, providing a high alto sound to contrast Nova's low baritone. Sonoma echoed the lines, adding her high soprano sound to the mix._

"_I don't want no more rain_

_Just want a bright day_

_Need to beat these blues_

_Just need a sun filled day…"_

_Nova sang the last part solo. Some of the girls in the front were swooning and cheering while he sang the last part._

"_I just want one good day_

_With the one I love_

_Just want the day_

_To be you and me, babe_

_No distractions, no sounds_

_Only smiles, no frowns_

_If not, my days'll only have rain_

_If you're unhappy, then I'm blue_

_I just want one good day with you…"_

_Then for roughly five minutes, they entered into what most people would consider a jam session. The four all had individual solo parts, to which Sonoma's violin solo got the most cheers. As soon as they ended the piece, the crowd cheered._

"Man, this's boring…" Jack said as he fast-forwarded through the scene, finally stopping at the beginning of the next scene.

_The next scene started with the camera panning into the D Squad Common Room; Sonoma was doing push-ups in the middle of the room, Omega was playing a soothing tune on her flute near the entrance, and Nova was in the back of the room, reading a large book and eating popcorn._

"_Good morning, everybody!" Corona said from behind the camera. Omega gave a nod, Sonoma looked up and smiled on her next push-up, but Nova didn't respond at all. _

_Corona walked over to Nova's side, running into a blue wall of light, which made her own red shield jolt up in defense._

"_Nova…" Corona said. Nova then dropped the wall._

"_What?" He snapped. The book's cover was clearly visible when he responded; he was reading War and Peace._

"_You're eating heavily buttered popcorn."_

"_So?"_

"_It's bad for you."_

"_But…it's buttery."_

"See? I'm not the only person in the galaxy to say 'it's buttery' about food!" Bridge shouted as he lightly wiggled his fingers. The rest of B Squad gasped and shushed him, pointing to Sky's room. "Oh. Sorry."

"_But you'll get the grease on your book."_

_Nova then held up a yellow hand towel._

"_You suck."_

_Nova smiled to the response. It was an eerie smile, like it was forced or painful._

"_So, how's the book, Nova?" Omega asked as she stopped playing._

"_I would know more of the story, if you didn't keep on stealing it!" His tone was sharp._

"_You need to live outside your books, Nova."_

"_That doesn't give you the right to take my books."_

"_But I like your books, too."_

"_Listen-" He sat up and slid a bookmark in his book. "next time you touch my copy of War and Peace, I'm going to start a war that'll only end when you're in pieces!"_

"Wow, good one!" Z commented as she got up to get a cup of coffee out of the snack generator.

"_Nova! Such harshness!" Corona said, punching Nova's arm. Nova replied by tossing popcorn at the camera. "Hey! The butter will ruin the lens!" Nova laughed at the comment, and the laugh sounded repressed, and looked even more sadistic than his smile. _

"What a scary little devil that boy is!" Syd said. "I think I've heard that kind of laugh before though…I just can't remember where…"

"_Hey guys!" Sonoma said. The camera turned around to display the green D Squadder standing on only the toes of her left foot, spreading the rest of her body out like she was flying._

"Well, I think it's official. Green is not the official color for weirdos." Jack muttered to Z. Unfortunately, Bridge heard him.

"I'm not weird! I'm gifted with lots of knowledge and a unique way of presenting it to others." Bridge commented in his defense. He thought that he had sorted out the 'Bridge is a freak of nature' comments from Jack last week. Obviously not.

"_What is it, Sonoma?" Omega asked._

"_I think I understand this all! I understand our purpose!" Sonoma said as she sat on the ground._

"_You understand the meaning of life?"_

"_Sorta."_

"_Then you must tell us."_

"_Okay." Sonoma began to levitate to Omega's eye level. "Well, you remember the tale of the men who defied their fate?"_

"_Yes! I love that one. The two men were criminals, and their punishment was to go to the oracle and be told their fates. They went to the oracle and she said that the men would die horrible deaths within the year. The men both decided to change their ways, and on the last day of the year, one of the men was killed, and the other spent the rest of his many remaining years in peace. Why do you ask?"_

"_Well, I think we're all here for a reason. We made choices to leave the world we knew and we made the choice to be here, of all places. But not all of us chose to be here on the Tantalus. Some of the crew were criminals being detained here, including our mentor, Mordom. We brought Nova here on Commander Alpha and Mordom's orders after watching him fight, and Omega and I were brought here by Commander Alpha after we were orphaned so that our family wouldn't be split up. All in all, we came here because of fate. But by choice, we all stay here. Why? Maybe it was destiny that we found this place and liked it. Maybe we found redemption in being mercenaries and thieves. Maybe we have no other place to go to. Maybe our home is nothing compared to the Tantalus. Who knows? Who cares? But honestly, I believe that this ship is a step in our lives to obtain our dreams. To live is to constantly chase our dreams. My dream is to be a famous musician…or a famous chef…whichever one comes first. What are all of your dreams? Omega?"_

"_Me? I want to work in a hospital. I want to bring smiles to the sick and dying."_

"_Corona? How about you?"_

"_I want to be an SPD Ranger…I think I'd want to be a blue ranger. I like blue. It's red without all of the sturm und drang that comes with being a leader."_

"_Figures." Nova said sarcastically._

"_Nova…? How about you?"_

"_Well, unlike Corona, I would like to be a red ranger, like my father." _

Bridge paused the clip for a moment.

"Hey, what gives?" Jack asked.

"This all makes sense now…" Bridge muttered.

"What makes sense?" Z asked.

"Corona used to room with Sky…and Corona lived on the ship with Nova…and Nova like buttery popcorn and wants to be a red ranger like his father…so Nova is really Sky!"

"Oh my gosh! I was thinking that too!" Syd said. "It was his laugh that made me think it was him…" Syd gave an irritated look as she flashed back to when she has last heard the laugh. It took her forever to fix her hair after Sky dumped the entire contents of his water bottle on her head and began to cackle like a wounded hyena.

"Well, then this just makes him a terrible hypocrite!" Jack commented. "I mean, how can he rag on me for being a low-key criminal when he was part of an infamous pirate crew?"

"Resentment, maybe. He obviously left before the massacre, because he's still alive." Bridge replied. Syd gave him a quick awkward glance; Bridge's comment was highly redundant.

"Resentment?"

"Well, maybe not resentment. Maybe repression. I mean, the Sky that we know is a very drill sergeant-ish person, so any connection to him being in the Marauders would tarnish his image, therefore, he tries to suppress Corona from speaking and existing, because she's a reminder of his past life."

"Well, it all makes sense to me if you think of Nova as being a young Sky. I mean so far, the Nova kid's been just like Sky…except for the musical thing." Z said. "By the way, has he ever played music around here?"

"No, but he's got a case in his room that might be for a bass that's been there since we started rooming together. If he is trying to repress memories, playing the bass might be a trigger as much as Corona is." Bridge replied.

"Okay, but how do you explain his reading? I mean, it sounds like he's as heavy of a reader as he used to be. How does that fit?"

"Hm. That is curious." Bridge said, stroking his chin. "I'll get back to you on that. But let's just watch the rest of this, okay?" Bridge picked up the remote and hit play.

"_Well, unlike Corona, I would like to be a red ranger, like my father," Nova began to repeat himself, but continued on. "because there is nothing more rewarding than being a leader, being in charge, and leading a team to victory."_

"Oh, that's definitely Sky." Syd snorted.

"_What such wonderful dreams!" Sonoma said. "Nova and Corona are close to their dreams…"_

"_No, I'm not." Nova said. "I want to be a Red Ranger on Earth, working for Commander Cruger."_

"_Why not work for Commander Alpha? She's a wonderful commander!" Omega said._

"_Because we're not really SPD here. We're frauds."_

"_Nova!" Corona replied, shocked._

"_It's just not the same as being a real SPD ranger."_

"_Let it go, Corona." Omega said. She knew that Corona was going to start an argument._

"_We all have dreams that seem odd, Corona. The trick is to make them real." Sonoma chimed in._

_The room fell silent until Nova spoke again._

"_We're all given a deck of card when were are born, pre shuffled. That is our life. Some people play the game well, even when they're not the dealer. See, you're given a hand that you can change. Sometimes it changes for the better, sometimes it changes for the worst, and sometimes you get nothing back but the same junk you tossed out. Sometimes you have a good thing going and you toss it away. Sometimes you have nothing and you get back the perfect hand. All in all, we have what we have to get us only so far. Our dreams mean nothing if we don't strive to ensure that we are dealt nothing but good hands."_

"_Well said, Nova!" Sonoma said. The scene abruptly cut out as the battery began to die._

_The next scene opened as the camera bobbed around hastily._

"_Where's Nova?" Omega shouted out from behind the camera._

"_Mordom has him outside!" A pink-clad officer shouted. The Fernovian woman wore a uniform that looked very much like the uniform that Syd wore._

"_Beta, report!" A voice called out. A woman with long platinum blonde hair wearing a uniform that mimicked Cruger's uniform marched down the hallway, stopping in front of the Fernovian officer. The camera moved to catch a shot of the two facing each other. It had stopped about ten feet away from the two of them as they began to converse._

"_Commander Alpha, Mordom showed up at the D Squad Common Room approximately ten minutes ago, took Cadet Nova by his hair, and dragged him out of the room and out of the ship for a highly unannounced one-on-one training session on KO-35's surface. Needless to say, Corona started…adamantly protesting…and even lashed out with an attack, but Mordom attacked her and knocked her into a wall. She was promptly treated and put under the watch of Cadet Sonoma."_

"_Commander Alpha, is there anything I can do?" Omega asked._

"_Oh, Omega! You scared me!" Commander Alpha said as she placed her hand over her heart. "Well, if you really want to do something Omega, you can go make sure Sonoma is still consoling Coro-"_

"_We're right here, Commander!" Sonoma's voice called out. Corona was clinging to Sonoma's arm, her head wrapped in gauze and her innate shield keeping her body a fraction of an inch away from Sonoma's body._

"Wow, what's that red thing around her?" Syd asked.

"Her body produces a red shield around her body; she can't turn it off and she seems to be unable to touch living things." Z seemed to be the only person who noticed the dreary tone in Bridge's voice. She decided to save her comments for later.

"Oh, wow…" Syd replied. "How sad…"

"Yeah, it is." Bridge replied, suddenly finding the urge to play with the strap on his left glove.

"_Are you okay, Cadet Corona?" Commander Alpha asked._

"_Of course. I'm just worried about Nova…" She was crying, and was a bit choked up._

"_That's understandable, but I can't permit you to intervene. I can't afford to lose two of my finest cadets at once to this…to this lunatic!"_

"_Commander, what are you going to do to Mordom?" Beta asked off the record._

"_We're going to incarcerate Mordom for a few years, at the very least. We just have to hope that Nova can weaken it enough for us to go in."_

"_You're going to sacrifice Nova?" Corona asked, her eyes widening and glassing over with tears._

"_It's necessary-"_

"_No, it's not!" Corona pushed Sonoma away and ran down the hallway._

"_Corona!" Omega cried out._

"_At ease, cadet Omega." Commander Alpha sighed out as she softly raised her right hand. "I can't allow anybody to follow cadet Corona into the field of battle. If they do not survive, I can't afford to lose any more of my D Squad to Mordom. It's already put all of the B Squad humans into comas, maimed the hell out of the C Squad humans, and now Mordom's resorting to beating on my little D Squad humans…" Commander Alpha sighed. "Officer Beta, you are dismissed." Officer Beta saluted Commander Alpha and left. Commander Alpha then walked up to the window and began to watch the fight. "I'm not a very good Commander, am I, Salia?" She asked._

"_Zeneria, you are the finest captain I've ever seen. I couldn't ask for a better commander, or a better sister for that matter." Sonoma replied._

"_I suppose. I just…I just feel weak in this situation. We Domorians are not natural fighters. We have the gift of gravitational manipulation, but what good is it when you can't take a hit?"_

"_We're supporters. We're just as valuable as the front line members." Omega replied._

"_You have a point, Floia," Commander Alpha replied. "but it's not enough. I wish that, for once, I had Nova's strength and willpower. I'd like to fight, just once, without cowering behind my little army."_

"_But if you were to fall, who would lead us? Mordom? Would you want it to take your place?"_

_Commander Alpha fell silent for a moment, then turned around to face the camera. "I would never do that to this crew. They are our family, they're as close as blood. I would never let him take control of my ship. Mordom would be the death of us if it ever became commander."_

"Sadly, you gotta admit that she was right about that." Bridge commented in a sullen tone.

"Yeah." Z replied.

"_Commander…" The B Squad green officer called out. He looked like he might be the same race as Kat. Commander Alpha turned to see her officer._

"_Yes, Officer Lynx?"_

"_The crew would like it if you were with us as sort of a morale thing. Do you mind?"_

"_Of course not. Let us depart." The quartet began to walk to the lounge. About halfway there, Officer Lynx's communicator beeped. Officer Lynx took out what looked to be a second-rate, shoddily made Delta Morpher and opened the front panel._

"_Lynx here." _

"_This is amazing, Lynx! You gotta run here!" Beta's voice screamed over the Delta Morpher's speaker._

"_What's going on?" Lynx asked as he began to run. Commander Alpha, Omega and Sonoma followed suit and chased him._

"_They put another shield up!" Beta shouted. _

"_But…wasn't Nova's shield smashed by Mordom right as I left?"_

"_This shield…it's different…"_

_They arrived in the lounge and Omega pushed right up to the front and began to focus the camera to view the scene below._

_Nova and Corona were back to back; their shoelaces had been tied around each other's ankles to ensure that their feet wouldn't separate while moving, and their hands were clenched together, the fingers intertwined. Their bodies were encased in a lavender-shaded wall of light, and the shots that Mordom was firing off were bouncing off the wall and landing mere inches away from Mordom. The two charged at Mordom, and just as Mordom began to move out of the way, they jumped in the air and nailed it in the head with a flying kick, sending sparks flying every which way and knocking Mordom to the ground. Nova and Corona switched places, and Corona took the lead._

"_Training behind my back, you little whelps?" Mordom shouted at a volume that the camera picked up._

"_You're not the only one with surprises!" Nova shouted back._

"_Wait until you see this!" Corona added as she backed up a bit to let Mordom up. She then charged at Mordom and started swinging wildly at it with her fists. Mordom attempted to bash her skull in with his fist, but the shield both repelled its hand and shocked it for more damage. Corona spotted her opportunity to strike and repeatedly punched him, causing massive damage._

"_You little brat!"_

"_You're just jealous of our mad skills!" Corona shouted. As she charged at Mordom again, Mordom waved its hand and laughed. "Perhaps you two should just…stop."_

_Suddenly, Nova stopped dead in his tracks. Corona jerked forwards, then stopped. "Nova…?" He shook her arms, not getting a response. She quickly hauled tail behind a giant rock._

"_Mordom used its hypnotic suggestion on them? What a horrible creature!" A C Squad cadet next to Omega shouted._

_A few moments later, Corona leaped out behind the rock by herself, her shield spikes extended and ready to strike. She ran towards Mordom, dodging all the shots it fired off at her, and quickly started landing hit after hit on it, showering the ground with sparks._

"_All officers who can morph!" Commander Alpha called out. "Go down there to assist the D Squad humans!" Several people in the crowd morphed and ran outside. "I need two medics going out there as well! Get going!" The scene cut out as the camera was turned off. Then the screen went black._

Bridge turned off the movie.

"Well, that was an interesting watch. Sky had a nice singing voice…it's a shame he didn't pursue a career in music. He would have outsold me." Syd said.

"I feel sorry for Sky, honestly. He's obviously really bothered by what happened on the ship. I wish there was something we could do for him." Z commented.

"Well, I feel like ripping Sky's head off for being such a prick and a hypocrite." Jack added.

"What do you think, Bridge?" Z asked.

"Me? I think this book is scary."

"About the movie, silly."

"Oh, the movie? Well directed, but the main characters needed work." He smiled lightly, giving away that he was joking. "I'm really interested to know why Sky and Corona left before the fallout, and why they let Mordom roam around when he was obviously really aggressive towards the human crew. Other than that, I'm sleepy."

"Well, we should let you sleep then, since you're sleeping out here." Syd, Jack, and Z wished Bridge a goodnight as Bridge turned off the television and set the couch up as a bed.

Z had trouble sleeping that night. Why was Bridge so gloomy and becoming absorbed in his job of bodyguarding Corona? Had something happened in the diner? Was Sky closed from everybody because of what happened to him on the ship? Why would Sky be so rude to Corona when she obviously went out of her way to protect him? The thoughts raced through her mind and kept her up. She sighed, grabbed her earphones, and blasted salsa music in her ears while telling herself that she would figure everything out tomorrow until she finally fell asleep.


	8. The Red Herring Plot

_Disclaimer: Don't own anything but the laptop I'm using to write this story._

In the morning, Z woke up and did her daily routine of showering and dressing before walking out and finding Bridge being his normal oddball self. He was doing a handstand against a wall while reading, occasionally transferring all of his weight to one arm to turn the page. He was still reading Sky's book.

"Hey Bridge." She said. He spotted her and turned himself right side up and smiled. "What's up?"

"I've been reading Sky's book since he went on his weekend morning jog. It's a very disturbing book about this psych ward after a war, and this guy's a schizophrenic who can't speak…and it's just a very interesting book. Seeing Sky as we have, I'm not surprised about it." He picked the book off the floor. "It makes he hungry."

"Me too."

"Cafeteria, table for three?" A voice called from the doorway. It was Corona.

"Hey there, Corona." Bridge said with a smile. She noticed a green package in her hands. "What's that?"

"Well, I heard that a certain somebody has to follow me everywhere, and that certain somebody doesn't have a large wardrobe, so when I went clothes shopping yesterday, I got that certain somebody a few things."

"Oh, you didn't…" Bridge blushed.

"Well, since we're about the same height, I just picked out some clothes I thought you'd like." She gave him the box and smiled.

"I'll open it after breakfast."

"Oh, you're going to have breakfast?"

"Yeah. We're just going to the cafeteria. You wanna come with us?"

"Of course!" Corona replied. The three then sauntered down to the cafeteria.

To Z, breakfast had never been as pleasant and heart-warming than sitting at a table with Bridge and Corona. She felt like she was watching Jack and herself dining together; smiles were had, jokes were exchanged, and meaningful comments were said. Z also watched Corona's toast habits and smiled. It was interesting to find that Bridge noticed the tiny quirks in her personality and commented on them, something Jack would do as a lighthearted joke from time to time. Bridge seemed to be a lot less skittish around her as well; perhaps it was the lack of time between each other, or her lack of calling him out for the stupid things Z had become used to noticing and mentally writing off as 'stupid antics'.

She was also beginning to take Bridge's side on why he was so pissed off at Sky; Corona was as much of a nice girl as much as she was a tough one, and she just seemed lonely above all. There was nothing wrong with her that Z could see, and her judge of character was fine-tuned from her years on the street. She enjoyed Corona's light-hearted humor, her witty retorts, and all around polite manner. If Z had never seen proof that Corona was once a part of an intergalactic crime ring, she would have assumed that Corona had grown up in a white collar, low-high income family, and had gone to MIT before joining SPD.

"Officer Delgado?" Corona asked, snapping Z out of her observant trance.

"Yeah?"

"I'm going to the mall, and since Bridge has to go with me, would you like to come as well?"

"Um, maybe tomorrow? Cruger has me and Syd doing some patrol work. In fact, I think I'm late." Z looked up at the clock. She was indeed late, by almost five minutes. "See? I'm late. I'll see you both later. Tomorrow, you, me, Syd, mall?"

"Sounds like a plan!" Corona said. "Good luck today, Officer Delgado."

"Oh, don't call me that. Z will do just fine."

"Okay, Z. That sounds like a stellar plan!" Corona said with a smile.

"Sounds good to me too. It was nice to finally meet you, Corona." She extended a hand out for a shake.

"It was nice to meet you too, Z." Corona nervously reached out and shook Z's hand, giving a pained look when her shield went up.

"Oh, don't worry." Z said. "Bridge told me about your shield. You're amongst the odd bunch now."

"Oh?"

"I'll explain later." Bridge said.

"Okay." Z grabbed her apple and ran out.

Up on the Terror Spacecraft, Grumm was growing increasingly infuriated with Mordom. He had entered Mora's room thirty minutes before, and found the two having a tea party.

"_Emperor Grumm, I am merely entertain Miss Mora to keep her out of her hair. What's the use of having a tool that refuses to work for you?" Mordom's hypnotic suggestion was strong enough to work on Mora, and making her tell him how to persuade Grumm without spending a dime was easy. Grumm, however, was in the dark about all of this._

"_That is not the point, Mordom. I hired you to destroy the Power Rangers, and you run away like a coward every time!"_

"_A good assassin knows when it is right to strike, and when it is right to leave. The Rangers are weakest when they are apart, yet they've all been together whenever we have met on the battlefield. I have a plan to take down the Rangers once and for all, but it takes many soldiers and many steps, but it is foolproof."_

"_If you give me a good reason as to why I should allow you to do your plan, I won't vaporize you!"_

It was horrible to have the hired help ordering you around, but to have them have a better plan than you was worse. This was Grumm's dilemma.

"How much longer are you going to wait?" Grumm asked Mordom.

"A bit longer, Emperor…just a bit longer…"

Back down at SPD Headquarters, Bridge had long opened his gift box and gotten dressed in one of the two outfits Corona had bought for him. Today he was dressed in a long olive green winter jacket with a faux fur-lined hood and matching leather gloves, a plain white teeshirt, a snugly fitting pair of khaki jeans, and his green sneakers from the day before. He decided to not struggle with his hair, but he had opted to put gel in it after his shower to give himself the feeling that he had some sort of control over it. He walked out and greeted Corona. Corona had opted to wear a blue corset underneath a red wool trenchcoat with a pair of blue jeans and brown steel toe boots this time around. She had obviously watched the weather channel; today's weather called for a cold rain shower.

"I assume that you're ready." Corona said.

"Whenever you're ready."

"Good to hear." Corona smiled.

Out on their street patrol in the Delta Cruiser, Syd and Z saw this as just another day without a monster to fight. Z decided to pitch the idea of hanging out with Corona out to Syd.

"Hey Syd," Z said, breaking the silence. "you remember the mechanic Bridge's bodyguarding?"

"That Corona girl from the video last night? Yeah. Why?"

"I was thinking…do you wanna hang out with her and I tomorrow? Ya know, have some girl time with her." Z started decelerating at the red light.

"Sure. I mean, we do get Sundays off, and I have nothing planned, so I'm game."

"I mean, Bridge might have to come along…"

"Oh, Bridge's harmless." Syd replied with a cheery tone to her voice.

Bridge was about the most asexual member of the team, as far as Syd knew; he was the only one that she knew of that had never attempted to make a pass at anybody, both inside and outside of SPD. She knew that even Sky had once made a pass at a cadet named Laura when they were both in D Squad, and that had abruptly ended when she taught him the reason why a male should wear a cup during a sparring match.

"I don't know. I mean, there are some things that guys should just not do." Z gave Syd a quick suggestive look, then accelerated as the light turned green.

Jack was busy training with Boom; another simulation where Boom had to be a villain and get pummeled by Jack. Boom could only hope Corona would finish the project she had promised Kat that she'd finish soon; he was sore from all of the fighting. Having low stamina and a low pain tolerance was the exact reason why he flunked out in the first place.

Jack, however, was both crafty and a crack shot, so this was going to be easy. He lied against the wall, sunglasses reflecting a light that would have otherwise impeded his vision. He had his standard issue pistol in hand, ready to fire away at the first sight of Boom. However, Boom had poor reflexes, and he had slammed into a box in the warehouse simulation's northeast wing. Jack phased through the wall quickly then turned around, scanning the area for anything out of place. Jack noticed a box out in the middle of the walkway about a hundred or so yards off, making him grin.

"Too easy." He slowly began making his way around, phasing through whatever was in his way. He spotted Boom after almost a minute or so, and he thought it lucky that Boom was facing the opposite direction. Boom's costume looked ridiculous; he was dressed up to look like a Van Gogh-ified version of Commander Cruger dressed in a clown suit. One quick shot to the spine and the simulation was over.

"Gee, Jack, that was a quick one!" Boom said.

"Well, I'm a quick one, aren't I? That's why I'm the Red Ranger." Jack said with a cocky tone in his voice.

"Yeah…"

The alarm sounded. "All B Squad cadets, report to the command center immediately."

"Oh good. Some excitement."

"Wow…" Bridge said in awe as he walked into the mall. The sheer wideness of the interior of the Newtech City Mall was just so much to him. The pure volume of shops was amazing.

"We can go wherever you want, Bridge." Corona said.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Do they have a bookshop in here?"

"They have three. You wanna go to a comic book shop, an educational book shop, or a fiction book shop?"

"Oh, I can't choose!"

"We can go in order then."

"Awesome…" Bridge smiled.

It was beginning to rain outside, and Syd was pouting and wishing the Delta Cruiser had a roof.

"Oh, I hate the rain!" Syd whined.

"Well, it's not like you're going to a party or anything. Relax; a little water never hurt anybody."

"Well, I guess you're right…" Syd replied.

Suddenly, a small pack of Krybots appeared in front of the Delta Cruiser. Z made an evasive move to avoid crashing into them. She stopped mere centimeters away from one of them, which gave them to excuse to jump the Delta Cruiser.

"Oh shit! Syd, out!" Z shouted.

"Bridge…?" Corona said as she caught up to him.

"Yeah?" Bridge replied.

"I have something to say to you…"

"What is it?"

"Well-" Corona was interrupted by a woman's scream. "what was that?"

Bridge aura scanned the area from where the scream rang out and caught Krybots on his radar.

"Krybots in the mall. I'll take you back-" He grabbed her arm as he began to turn around, but she responded by grabbing his hand.

"No. I'm staying with you." Bridge gave her a concerned look as he turned to face her. "I'm a big girl. Besides, you might need backup."

"I'll call for it if it's needed." Bridge replied sternly.

"Forget it. Let's save some people, just you and me."

Bridge sighed. "If anything happens to you, I'm blaming your stubbornness for it. Got it?"

"Crystal clear." Corona replied with a smile.

"Officer Landors, there have been numerous energy readings around the town that indicate a massive assault by Grumm. There's at least one Ranger in every area but one. I'm deploying you to the unmanned area in Sector 2. Now go." Cruger quickly debriefed Jack, since there wasn't much time to waste.

"Yessir." Jack replied as he saluted and left.

Cruger huffed as Jack left. Kat walked in shortly after.

"Have you been able to contact Sky at all, Kat?" Cruger asked.

"No I haven't. I saw him leave early this morning; he looked like he was going out for a jog. He hasn't returned to the base since."

"I told him not to go anywhere alone…I purposely sent Corona to the ship to ensure that he wouldn't be alone, and that only caused more trouble, so I decided to not do that again, and now he just goes off without telling anybody where he is! This is ridiculous."

"Sir, Sky's the strongest member of B Squad. If anybody can defend himself, it's him."

"But this Mordom…you saw what he did before. You saw the tape with me; you know what he's capable of…I'm more worried about losing my best cadet to this monster than anything, especially if he does what he did on the Tantalus."

The security log Sky had brought back had severely unnerved Cruger; Mordom had not only brutally murdered every member of the crew, but it had forced a young female cadet to do all of the dirty work. The young girl wasn't more than Corona and Sky's age at the time, and it was unknown what her name was, since nobody on the tape had time to speak it, but it was disheartening to think that something such as that could happen, but it was horrific to know how far the creature would go to get what it wanted.

"Try one more time to get a hold of Sky." Cruger commanded.

"Yessir." Kat relayed one more message to Sky.

"Sky, can you hear me? This is Dr. Manx."

A garbled message came back in response. He was obviously far away. "Ye-…can…rdly her-………st be far ou………"

"We want you to return to base immediately."

The reception got a bit better; Kat was now able to tell what he was saying.

"I'm at the cemetery, and I ran here. I'll be there as soon as I-" He cut off for a moment. "I've got trouble. I may be later than I thought."

"Sky, what is it?" The reception was cut off. "Sky…?" Nothing but dead air.

"That cadet will be the death of me, I swear." Cruger commented.

Sky was in a bit of a pickle after walking out of the mausoleum. Mordom was outside waiting for him.

"Holding a service for the retired loved ones, Nova?" Mordom taunted.

"You're a sick freak, you know that?" It was beginning to rain at the graveyard now.

"Well, I have a proposition. Either you join me willingly, or we can have it out right here."

"Well, I guess I got warmed up this morning for a reason then." Sky said as he got into a fighting stance.

Syd and Z fought off the Krybots one by one; Syd used her genetic power to gain 'fists of steel' from the hood of the Delta Cruiser, and Z made a duplicate of herself. Syd then proceeded to bash the hell out of the Krybots, sometimes getting a lucky shot and driving her fist through a random spot on a Krybot. Z and her duplicate double teamed whatever Syd had targeted, using swift and steady movements to trip, toss and maim every Krybot into submission. As the fight ended, Syd contacted the base.

"Commander, we've taken out about a dozen Krybots. What do you want us to do?"

"I want you to report to Newtech Cemetery immediately." Cruger said through the fuzz. The storm was affecting their communications.

"Yessir." Syd and Z got back into the Delta Cruiser. Syd sighed. "I was hoping he'd tell us to go back to base."

Bridge and Corona ran towards the Krybot group. Corona summoned up her shield spike as Bridge tightened up his gloves. Corona destroyed one Krybot that was trying to attack an elderly woman.

"Alright everybody! SPD's Here! File out in an orderly fashion!" Bridge called out. The crowd, however, wasn't too keen on 'filing out in an orderly fashion', as they nearly trampled Bridge to escape the food court. Corona helped the elderly woman get to her daughter and grandkids before joining Bridge in the fight.

Bridge was quickly tossed into the middle by the Krybots. He kicked a chair at a few Krybots coming towards him, knocking the whole group back. Corona drove her spike through some of the Krybots knocked back by Bridge.

"I'm coming, Bridge!" Corona shouted as she sliced through a few more Krybots. Surrounded and outnumbered, Bridge hatched up a plan. "Stand where you are, Corona, and get prepared to have things flung at you." He said as he went after one of the Krybots. He picked the Krybot out of the crowd and tossed it at Corona, who quickly gouged the Krybot, then tossed it into a small crowd to her left. Bridge then kicked a chair into the group behind Corona, taking out a few more Krybots.

"Bridge!" Corona cried out as a Krybot began to flank Bridge.

"Huh?" Bridge muttered before he was tackled to the ground. Several Krybots joined the dogpile on top of Bridge. Corona gasped, but was quickly relieved, as Bridge managed to toss all of the Krybots off, then quickly dispatched them all with swift and steady punches.

As a Krybot dived for Corona, Bridge grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him. She stopped as she collided with his chest, making her blush slightly. "Thanks."

"It's my job." Bridge replied with a smile. She regained her composure and realized that Bridge still had her hand, making her feel like they were about to dance. "I have an idea. Being separated isn't helping us."

"Agreed." He took note of the Krybot behind Corona and gave her a look. However, Corona noted the same thing. They both kicked backwards, smashing the Krybots into tables. They then both went back to the stance they had been in. They took a waltzing position and began using each other as weapons against the few remaining Krybots. After the fight was over, Bridge's morpher sounded.

"Officer Carson speaking."

"I want you and Miss Corona back at the base immediately."

"Yessir!" Bridge replied as he closed the morpher. They began to walk out until a small crowd of people who had been standing around watching the entire fight stopped them and thanked them.

"You two are such amazing Rangers." A small voice called out from amongst the crowd. A little girl walked up to Corona; both Bridge and Corona thought she looked familiar.

"I'm not a Ranger, little girl."

"But shouldn't you be? You could be a Red Ranger, even!" The girl smiled demonically.

Corona was unnerved slightly. "Where's your mother?"

"Let's go, Corona. We have things to do." Bridge said, grabbing her arm and yanking on her.

"Goodbye, Corona." The girl replied as she waved goodbye with her little doll's hand.

Sky was fighting frantically against Mordom. He had tried morphing, but had his morpher shot out of her hand. He had tried putting up his shield, but Mordom had shattered it, rendering it useless for at least several hours.

"Just like on KO-35, isn't it, Nova?" Mordom taunted.

"I don't go by that name anymore. Things are different now." Sky replied.

"Ah yes. A few inches taller, a few years older, but still the same scared boy I defeated years ago."

Sky shot a death glare at Mordom and charged at it with an extended left arm, preparing what could be a devastating blow. Mordom, anticipating a risky move, grabbed Sky's fist and twisted his arm, forcing Sky to turn and drop to his knees.

"I see your pride is still intact…haven't you learned anything since you left?"

"I've learned how to be a good guy, that's for sure."

Mordom wrenched Sky's left arm harder, causing Sky to cry out in pain. "I assume that they taught you how to lose your temper, be arrogant, and make erroneous moves in these courses, or did you do some of your own learning?"

Jack arrived at the final Krybot gathering; a junkyard on the outskirts of town. Jack had morphed long before he arrived, and was ready to put the smackdown on some Krybots. He parked his Patrol Cycle outside the lot, drew his Delta Blasters and ran in. He quickly spotted the Krybots and let loose a flurry of shots, blowing holes through numerous Krybots. A Bluehead emerged from the crowd and fired back, but Jack dodged the shots and returned fire, disarming the Bluehead. He ran in for a flying kick and nailed the Bluehead in the spot where the two rings around its head connected, crushing the helmet in. He then roundhouse kicked a Krybot into a stack of cars, causing the entire pile to fall forwards on top of a few more Krybots. A few more shots from his Delta Blasters cleared out the area.

"That was easy…too easy." Jack said to himself as he powered down. He then called in his report.

"Return to the base, Jack."

"You got it, sir."

Z and Syd were riding into the cemetery when two Krybots jump in front of the cruiser.

Z duplicated herself and had her duplicate drive while she stood in the backseat and fired at the two Krybots with her pistol. She then dropped her double and took the wheel once more.

"Nice shooting." Syd complimented.

"Thanks." Z said with a smile. A shot then rang out, nearly striking the front right tire. Z swerved to avoid the shot, then stopped. She spotted a heavily disoriented Sky, with a bruised cut to his forehead and a torn up shirt. He gave a shocked look as he lowered his weapon; he held his left arm softly due to his injuries.

"Did I hit you guys? I'm sorry! I thought it was a Krybot coming!" Sky said as he ran up to the cruiser.

"Are you okay?" Syd asked.

"Cruger told us to come here. Are you alright?"

"I'm pissed, that's what!" Sky replied. "Mordom got away! He tossed me against a tree, and I got knocked out for a few minutes, and I woke up to find that he had left!"

"How did he get away?" Z asked, perplexed.

"Like I said, he escaped while I was out!"

"Ugh, just get in the cruiser!" Syd shouted. The rain was agitating the hell out of her. She hated the rain more than Kat did. Sky jumped in the back, Z pulled the cruiser around, and the trio headed off back to the base.


	9. Psychokinesis

The debriefing was arduous, and with Sky and Corona in the same room, it was awkward. Everybody was waiting to see Sky explode and punch Corona, or for him to make a snippy comment while she was talking, but they got a no-show as far as insults and injuries went. It was eerily quiet between them. She was only there because Cruger wanted to hear what happened at the mall from her as much as he wanted to hear it from Bridge. After the debriefing, Cruger requested that Bridge stay.

"Officer Carson, I have to commend you on the fine job you've been doing."

"Thank you, sir. I'm doing my best."

"Unfortunately, I have a sneaking suspicion that all is not right."

"You have that feeling too, sir?" Bridge asked.

"What are you sensing, Carson?"

"The weather was shoddy today…we never have cold weather. I think it might be El Nino or something like that. What were you thinking?" It wasn't the thing Cruger was looking for, but it was a good question to ponder.

"I was thinking about the attack. It had no real purpose other than to stall time. I have a bad feeling about this. I'm setting you and RIC up for all-day patrol around the Lab room where Corona will be working. You're to get back into your uniform and get back on active duty pronto." Bridge saluted Commander Cruger and headed back to his room.

Z and Syd were in the Lab room watching Corona work on a hunk of metal by the time Bridge arrived.

"Oh! Thank goodness you're here!" Corona said, dropping her wrench and dragging Bridge in. "I heard you're a master mechanic, so I wanted your opinion." She stood him in front of the hunk of metal, and Bridge just stared.

"What are you trying to make?"

"A training robot."

"Well then, you're gonna need some work." Bridge said. "First off, you're making the joints rigid. There's not an alien in the entire galaxy that moves like that. Well, maybe there is. But you're looking to simulate normal bad guys, so it's gotta move faster…"

"We'll leave you two alone with this." Z said.

"Yeah, we should go train…or something." Syd added. They both left promptly to go to the Commons Room.

Inside, they ran into Sky, who was playing Light ball with Jack. Sky was throwing the ball way too hard, and every time he hit Jack, he sent the Red Ranger flying into something.

"Man, take it easy!" Jack said as he got up.

"I'm sorry. I know you really like this game, so I'm giving it my all."

"Well, cut it out. Play normally. It's like you're trying to kill me."

"I can if you want." Sky laughed, trying to give the impression that he was joking. Jack, however, wasn't buying it.

"Sky, you seem to be in a good mood. What's up?" Syd asked.

"Oh, I'm just glad Mordom didn't kill me. He probably would have if he had stuck around any longer."

"You think?" Z asked.

"Oh, definitely." Sky sounded so assured.

"Then you should go train to make sure he doesn't the next time." Z replied.

"Good idea!" Sky said, taking the Light ball glove off. He handed the gave to Z as he roughly patted her on the back and walked out to the gym.

"I think it's safe to say that Sky hit that tree really, really, really hard." Z said as soon as she knew Sky was out of listening distance.

Sky popped his head in at the Lab, scaring Bridge and Corona. In less than ten minutes, their joint effort had forged together both a well-circuited torso and a perfectly jointed arm, complete with batteries, circuits, and wires. They had been testing the movement speed of the arm when Sky walked in.

"Um, hey Sky…" Bridge said. "Whatcha up to?"

"Just came in to see if anybody needed anything before I go work out."

"Nope. We're all good here." Bridge said with a smile.

"Good to hear." Sky said as he began to look at the torso and arm of the robot. "What's this?"

"This is my new training robot, Schuyler." Sky had begun touching the front of the robot's torso, trying to find faults in the plating. Corona slapped Sky's hand, making her shield react. She looked up at him, giving him a death glare and he left.

As soon as Sky left, Corona looked at Bridge. "Please don't leave this room…please."

"Well, I've been ordered not to, so it looks like I'd have to even if I didn't want to."

"If?"

"This robot needs to be done. You want my help. I want to help." Bridge replied, coughing afterwards.

Hours went by, and the robot was nearly done. It lacked a humanoid outer shell, but all of the circuitry, armor, wiring, batteries, and other robotic essentials were completely implemented.

"Hello. I am ACTER, the Advanced Civilian Training Emulation Robot. It's nice to finally optically sense you, Miss Corona and Officer Carson." The robot said in a monotone voice.

"That voice needs to be changed." Bridge said.

"Change…" ACTER repeated. "Am I able to change…?"

"Yeah, a few little tweaks here and there, and it's all better." Corona said, holding up a pair of wire strippers and a small welding torch.

"Can you be changed so easily? Can you evolve easily?"

Bridge and Corona looked at each other and pondered for a moment. That was an awkward question if there ever was one.

"Well, humans can evolve, but that takes a very long time and it's permanent." Bridge added.

"Yes, evolve. To change drastically. To become something entirely different. Am I going to evolve?"

"Of course not! It's just an adjustment to your voicebox, silly!" Corona said. "I'm going to shut you off to make sure you don't shock me, then you'll be back online soon."

"Okay…shutting down…" ACTER shut itself down and it slowly lied back against the table. Kat walked in and smiled.

"I see you two are working hard on getting ACTER online." Kat commented with a smile.

"Yup, ACTER just needs a new voice and an outer shell to make it look like a human. Other than that, ACTER's ready to go." Corona replied with a smile.

"Great to hear! I'm glad you managed to finish it now…Boom got annihilated by Z an hour ago and he's out of commission for at least a week."

"Ooh. That sucks." Corona replied.

"Well, do what you must. I just came in the check up on you two; I'm hitting the hay for tonight. Stay out of trouble, and no funny business." Kat said, giving Corona a suggestive look.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Corona asked, giving Kat the look back.

"Just stay out of trouble, you two." Kat said as she walked out.

"Kat assumes the worst of us." Corona said as she opened up the plate sitting over ACTER's throat.

"Well, they all do, really. Just on different levels."

"They said something?"

"They think too loud."

"Oh." After a moment or so of silence, Bridge spoke up. "Do you think we've evolved?"

"What?"

"I mean…we all have our powers, right?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

"Do you think that, if we tried hard enough, we could tap into a part of our abilities that we never use?"

"Like…maybe me using my shield as more than just a shield?" Corona was interested to see where Bridge was going with this.

"Yeah, but I mean much more than that. I mean…you have your shield, but you have your attack too. What if Sky could do that too? What if Jack could phase through moving objects? What if Z could make more than two duplicates? What if Syd could change the entire composition of her body instead of her just her hand? What if I…" Bridge stopped. He couldn't think of any way his powers could improve.

"What if you could move things with your mind? Isn't your power a psychic ability?" Corona said with a smile.

"Yeah…come to think, that would be handy, wouldn't it?" Bridge replied.

"Knock Sky's drinks into his lap by just looking the cup…now that would be awesome to be able to do."

"Hey now…we're fighting crimes with out abilities, not playing pranks with them."

"But what's the point of having telekinesis if you can't ever use it to play pranks on somebody once in a while?"

Bridge sighed. "We're digressing. The point is…what if our powers are evolving?"

"Well, to be honest, I wasn't able to manipulate my shield until I was ten or so…it's possible."

"But how come I only have my aura reading…?" Bridge was slightly jealous. He had never exerted anything else besides aura reading before, and he could only pick up loud thoughts at an extremely close range. Of course, there was his other, unexplainable ability, but it was neither wise to use it nor all that useful. There wasn't exactly an evolution of sorts; he had developed those abilities long before he knew how to use and control them. He was envious of Corona to an extent; she had some control over her main power, even if her shield couldn't be dropped. She never had to fear hurting people around her, or ever getting harmed herself.

"Some people are lucky, Bridge." Corona said. "I do have to say, I didn't think that so many people had special abilities. When I was growing up, I thought Sky and I were the only humans to have these abilities. Being here at SPD and meeting you…it's made me feel better." Corona said as she blushed.

"Well, I'm here to help. That's our job." Bridge replied. RIC sauntered in and barked a few times.

"Hey there, RIC. We're making you a new buddy." Corona joked.

RIC barked and Corona responded by petting RIC and kissing the metallic mutt's nose. Bridge sighed. Maybe it was fate that he were to be so unlucky and jealous.

Several hours later, Bridge was struggling to keep awake. The only thing making sure he was awake was RIC's constant barking. Corona was wide awake.

"Must be hard to stay up, eh?" Corona said, nudging Bridge with her elbow. He looked over to see that ACTER was covering in a flesh colored synthetic skin. He poked the skin and was surprised to find that he felt almost exactly like the real thing. Perhaps it was because he was wearing gloves that he was unable to tell the difference. He mildly sighed, as he was reminded of his personal vice.

"You okay, Bridge?" Corona asked.

"I just need some coffee…" Bridge replied. "you want something, Corona?"

"I'm fine. I have jellybeans." She held up a bag of brightly colored jelly candies that resembled rounder versions of kidney beans. Bridge weakly smiled.

"Okay…RIC, stand guard while I get some damn coffee…" Bridge slowly marched out of the room and slowly down the hallway.

RIC happily paced the hallway, barking every fourth step. He spotted a figure walking down the hallway, so he quickly scanned it. Visuals indicated it was Sky, but every other scanner was in the red.

"Hi there, RIC. Aren't you all feisty tonight?" He asked RIC. RIC began to howl as he charged at Sky. "I can fix that." He quickly balled up his left hand, forcing a fraction of his shield to strengthen his punch. Just as RIC had gained the proper altitude in his leap, Sky threw his left hook as hard as he could. The poor robotic dog couldn't stand up to the blow, and RIC was sent flying through the air, its skull bashed in and spitting sparks. Needless to say, his descent was noisy. What also made noises of its own was Sky's fist; the shield hardly held up to the power both in front and behind it, and it shattered on contact, allowing RIC's head to smash into Sky's hand. The sick popping sounds of several joints in Sky's hand dislocating matched with the dull crack of bones splitting shortly followed. His left hand was practically useless now.

"I guess that trick's just not good enough…" Sky muttered to himself. Corona ran out, gasped as she spotted Sky, then ran back into the room. "Oh! Just who I was looking for!"

"BRIDGE!"

Bridge hadn't even made it to the snack machine when he heard Corona screaming. Adrenaline took the place of much-needed caffeine, and he rushed back to the lab.

By the time he had arrived, Sky was dragging a beaten and bruised Corona out of the room. Sky spotted Bridge and smiled.

"Oh look, it's the little hero-in-training." Sky mocked.

"Let her go!" Bridge said, reaching for his pistol. "Sky, we can be rational about this…"

"It's not Sky!" Corona shouted.

"Shut up." Sky replied, tossing her into the wall and breaking her nose. She fell backwards, unconscious.

"Corona…" Bridge uttered. He took his glove off and scanned Sky's aura. Corona was both right and wrong; Sky's aura resonated from the body, but it was now encased within a black shell…

"You're not Sky…you're not Mordom…you're both…" Bridge muttered.

"Aren't you a smart one?" Sky replied with a slick grin. "I am, in fact, two beings at once at this very moment."

"You're a Zantarian, aren't you Mordom? You're nothing but a shell looking for something to fill it." Bridge said, taking a fighting stance.

"I'm impressed, human. You're smarter than you look."

"I dislike showing off."

"I see. Well, I'd like to get rid of you before I finish my old student, so let's make this quick." Sky seemed to pull a blade out of thin air, then he struck it against the floor, causing the sword to ignite. "Have I mentioned that I have a feeling that I know how to hurt you without really hurting you? Mental destruction is much more potent than physical. What good is a powerful soldier with no will to live?" As soon as he said the last word of his sentence, he swung at Bridge, slicing through Bridge's jacket and shirt and setting the jacket ablaze. Bridge panicked and quickly tossed the jacket off, then quickly assessed the wound in his abdomen. The wound had been cauterized and it was screaming in pain, despite how shallow the wound actually was.

"A soldier with no will to live is as worthless as an infant with every thought focused on survival…" He then swung at Bridge's left hand, slicing the left glove in two and leaving a grazing blow that was quickly cauterized by the flames.

"A soldier who has no will to live has no strength, no thoughts, no chance!" Sky sneered demonically as he took another swing, this time lighting Bridge's right glove on fire. Bridge panicked and wondered if he should really just let it burn off. Of course, he wasn't sure he wanted to get a full-hand skin graft, so he quickly discarded the other glove. Sky drove the blade into the ground and pulled several shurikens out of his jacket, tossing them at Bridge. Bridge attempted to dodge the little metal stars, but they all snagged his shirt and pinned him to the metal grating behind him; his arms pinned up so that he couldn't call for backup. He struggled against the stars, but he was stuck completely in the wall.

"Damn shirt…" he muttered. He tried pushing against the wall, hoping his shirt would rip, but he was unfortunate that the shirt was holding up well. "Damn poly-cotton blend…"

He was now standing over RIC, watching in horror as the still-unconscious Corona was dragged away from the wall. Sky straddled the young woman and held the flaming blade above her chest. His left hand cracked sickeningly as he uncurled it and wrapped it around the hilt of the sword.

"If you will not join my glorious plans, little Corona, then I'll have to make sure nobody uses you."

"STOP!" He jolted forward, focusing his sight on Sky and the sword. He suddenly felt a push forwards as everything he saw surrounding Sky and the sword faded out from view. He felt himself both moving forwards and falling to the ground, but the longer he pushed, the less he felt like he was falling. Everything outside his sights was black, and the sword and Sky was all he saw. His movement was fluid and required no effort on his part; all he did was force himself closer and held out his arms. The sheer will of his thoughts propelled him at Sky in a blinding rage, screaming at the top of his lungs. Sky spotted him and panicked, dropping the sword off to the side. The impact of Bridge's blow tossed Sky off of Corona and down the hallway, landing on his left arm and barrel rolling into the wall, knocking Sky out.

Both pleased and perplexed with his success, Bridge turned around, only to be rewarded with a disturbing sight. He gasped as he saw his lifeless body hanging on the wall like a sacrifice that was given up to the gods. He looked down at himself, only to see nothing more than an faint outline of his body, void of substance and structure.

_Oh no…_Bridge thought. _What have I done…? _He quickly forced himself forwards, back towards his body. He stopped short, however, and mentally pulled the stars out of the wall, tossing them backwards and narrowly missing Corona's head and jolting her awake. She turned around to watch Bridge's body slide off the wall and a faint silvery cloud of light sink slowly into the badly bruised shell.

Bridge pushed himself up slowly; his nose was gushing blood and his hands and side begged to be left alone.

"Bridge…are you okay…?" Corona asked as she slowly got up. He held her head in pain. Bridge's sight was still out of focus, and there was a ringing in his ears, but he knew that Corona was coming towards him. His senses realigned slowly as he pushed himself up. Corona helped him up, which gave him a jolt.

Corona tried to speak, but the thoughts of how to respond were dropping out of her faster than water flowed out of a broken dam. It was too late for either of them to realize that Corona's shield had dropped from the concussion she was suffering from. She slowly fell deeper into her hole of thoughts until she collapsed and her subconscious began to empty out, including the most basic of mental processes. The sudden rush of it all put Bridge into shock. He fell out of her grasp and began to convulse. It was only by sheer luck that Z had been on her way to get a late night snack that she saw Bridge's condition. She quickly ran down the hallway, avoiding his exposed skin, not sure what was to happen. She deftly grabbed his morpher and called everybody else down to the area. She looked around for any sign of an attack, but Sky and the sword were nowhere to be found. She quickly checked Corona's vitals, only to find that Corona had little to respond with. Z's first aid training kicked in and she began to give her CPR, and she made a duplicate to keep an eye on Bridge until the rest of the team arrived.

For once in her life, Z was happy that she was a late night fridge raider.


	10. Clairaudience

_I'm sorry for the confusion, everybody. I slipped the wrong chapter into the wrong spot. Read this, then continue onwards. Sorry for the inconvenience._

It had been three days since Bridge and Corona had silently slipped into their comas; silent, wounded, and alone. The routine patrolling that B Squad was used to doing had been left to C Squad these days, and Syd, Jack and Z were confined to the Common Room until there was a real problem that required Ranger work. The team was slowly being whittled down to nothing, it seemed. Sky hadn't shown up in days, and Bridge…nobody wanted to talk about Bridge's condition.

"I wonder if Corona and Bridge will ever wake up…" Z said with a sigh. She had managed to jump start Corona's heart after she went into cardiac arrest, and her duplicate managed to hold Bridge down and prevented him from causing any more damage to himself for the remainder of his seizure. Z was fearful and scared; Sky was gone, her friends almost died…was there nothing Mordom wouldn't do?

"I'm just happy that they're alive, even if…well…yeah…" Jack frowned. He knew something was wrong with Sky's story from the start, and he wasn't sure why he hadn't interrogated Sky further after the debriefing. He could have easily figured out that Sky wasn't being himself. Besides, the fact that Sky shot at the Delta Cruiser while he was unarmed and unmorphed should have been a dead giveaway.

"It's been three days, guys…" Syd said as she began to dive into a bowl of popcorn. "what if they never come to?"

Syd missed watching Sky sit where she was on the couch and read for endless hours, snacking on popcorn and occasionally looking up and flashing an evil eye at whoever had gotten close enough to catch his attention. She had opened up a book called _Survivor_ out of his collection only minutes after she returned from the ER wing of the Academy, and as disturbing as it was, she couldn't stop reading until she was done. She felt as if Sky was reading her the book, and it was the feeling she wanted badly. To know that he was okay, to know he was still on her side, to know that Sky was still a Ranger at heart. She had seen the video clip; she saw Sky sitting on top of Corona, preparing to drive the sword through her heart. She wanted desperately to believe it wasn't true.

"We just have to wait and see what happens." Z said with a sigh.

"Yeah…" Syd said, popping a kernel of popcorn in her mouth. It was way too quiet now. The only thing that would make their day was to have Bridge run into the room screaming and shouting about a butter shortage in the cafeteria.

Up on the Terror Spacecraft, Sky slowly awoke. He tried to move his left hand, only to receive a sudden shockwave of pain and burning. He moved his hand in front of his face; it was wrapped up similar to that of a boxer's hand underneath a glove. Dried blood resonated across the surface, coloring the off-white cloth wrapped up around his hand. He was tired, cold, and void of any thoughts. He wasn't all that familiar with his surroundings; he lied in a hammock, covered in a black blanket that had the qualities of a spiderweb. A dollhouse sat in the corner of the giant room, the misshapen dolls lying around and about the room. A small vanity dresser, painted black, sat next to the hammock Sky was lying in. A large black book was sitting on the top of it, next to a brush and a black ribbon. A white marble chair that seemed like it could've been an art deco piece sat in front of the vanity dresser, waiting for its owner to enjoy the soft layer of padding that had been grafted into the seat.

In the center of the room sat a small table and chair set, with a full tea set sitting in the middle of the table. A lopsided bunny that was missing its left ear and a bear that was missing both its legs sat in two of the six chairs. Sky got an eerie feeling about the room

The door opened, revealing a young girl carrying around a dilapidated doll, followed by Mordom.

"Why did you put him in my room?" The girl griped. "He's probably put Ranger cooties all over my bed!" Sky was shocked to see his former teacher alive.

"Where…where am I…?" Sky asked, clutching his head. The mere presence of Mordom was giving him a migraine. He tried to get out of the hammock, but he felt like he was being pressed into it, like the sheets were tightening against his struggles.

"Welcome to the Terror Spacecraft. This is Mora, and you are in her bed. I found that is was the most comfortable of beds…we aim to be hospitable here."

"Well, as long as Grumm doesn't get upset." Mora replied.

"Grumm? I'm on Grumm's ship?"

"You are safe here, Nova. Do not worry."

"Grumm is my enemy!" Sky once again struggled to break free, but it was obvious Mora's mental ties on the blanket and hammock were holding him down like a wayward insect in a spider's gossamer threads.

"He is a good person, Nova…" Mordom replied, forcing his thoughts on Sky.

"No, he's not…" Sky struggled to get out, to escape the madness, but it was useless.

"Oh Nova-"

"That's not my name!" Sky shouted.

"It is the name your friends gave you, my child…"

"And what a lovely name it is." Mora added. She wanted to help Mordom out in his skill; she admired it.

"I suppose…" Sky was buying into it.

"It is the only name I know of yours, my child."

"Than I'll make it easy for you…you can call me Nova." Mora allowed Sky to sit up now that Mordom's hypnotic suggestions were kicking in.

"What a regular klutz. I bet he meant to do it, too." Mora said.

"I think he meant to as well…he knew he shouldn't have gone poking around without his gloves on…" Mordom added. Sky wasn't sure what was true, but if Bridge knew not to do something and he did it anyways, then it was obviously his fault. "That reminds me. Mora, tend to our guest. All my students, former and current, are to get the upmost treatment while under my watchful eye."

"Of course, Mordom." Mora walked out, sounding like she was in a trance. As she left, the blanket and hammock loosened its death grip on Sky.

"Forgive Mora. I haven't quite taught her manners yet." Mordom said as he helped Sky to the art deco chair.

"It's fine…" Sky was beginning to get comfortable, despite the fact that he was terrified about whatever Bridge had done to Corona.

At the Academy's infirmary, Kat had become worried as she went over the charts related to Bridge and Corona. Bridge's seizure had been triggered by abnormal and sporadic brain activity, and Corona's cardiac arrest had been caused by a lack of it. Over the last three days, they had evened out, but they were both in deep slumbers. Given the extensive damage they both took, Kat was surprised that they were in the conditions they were in. Kat's ears perked up as she picked up a slight movement from Bridge's bed. She looked up and saw Bridge looking at her from his resting spot.

"Kat…?" Bridge called out weakly. He looked upwards, noticing that he was hooked up to a brain wave monitor.

"You're awake. That's great." Kat smiled as she walked to his side. Bridge began to sit up, but she gently placed her hand on his chest and pushed him gently back against the bed. "Lie down." Bridge¸ however, was interested to see Corona, who was lying next to him and hooked up to an EKG machine as well as a brain wave monitor.

"What did I do…?" A flood of thoughts came rushing forward, giving himself a headache. He pulled the brainwave monitor nodes off and got up. He ignored the pain in his hands and side and jumped out of bed.

"Bridge…" Kat began to plead. Bridge pushed her back, irritating the cauterized wound and sending a shockwave up his arm.

"Just get out of my way!" Bridge shouted, grabbing a long sleeved coat while walking out. He trounced back into the Commons Room, startling Syd, Z and Jack.

"Bridge!" They shouted. Z went to hug Bridge, but he quickly evaded her and wandered into his room, locking the door behind him.

"Oh no…"

Bridge dropped on his bed. He couldn't remember most of last night, but as soon as he started remembering things he never did, he realized what he had done. He had used his abilities against Corona, the deadly ones. She was hooked up to the EKG because of him. Her strongest memories were permanently embedded in his head, and Corona…he didn't want to think about her now. He wanted to ride the memories out, to let them fade into non-existence.

_The cemetery was hushed on such a beautiful summer night. Dozens of SPD cadets and officers, including Cruger and Kat, stood along the sides of the torch-lit mausoleum as the beautiful oak coffin was carried inside. A woman wearing a long black and red dress and a long black veil was crying, holding both the boy and Corona close. Corona couldn't help but cry, while the boy stood emotionless, staring up at the stars._

"_Death…" One cadet said in front of Corona started to say, "it's so final…I couldn't live like that…I don't plan to go above D Squad…be a security guard at the mall or something…"_

"_Death…it's final…you leave everybody behind…" Corona said._

"_But to die being a hero…there's no greater death…" The boy mindlessly replied._

"_Death means you're never coming back…he's never coming back…" Corona cried out. There was nothing but darkness and the sound of tears, then nothing at all…_

"Death really is final…" Bridge muttered as he curled up in a ball, gripping his pillow.

Up in space, Mora walked into her room and found Sky and Mordom sitting cross-legged on the floor. Sky had since removed his coat and shoes in an attempt to get comfortable in Mora's room.

"SPD's become so corrupted over the years, Nova…Corona's been roped into it…you were, too. They will all fight to the death to defend it, and I can help you make sure they do. But for now, we must heal your wounds. We can't have you going into battle like this." Mordom turned around and spotted Mora. "Ah, here she is now…I shall leave you two be. I need to give Emperor Grumm a report right now, but I shall return." Mordom got up, leaving Mora and Sky in the room together.

Mora walked over to Sky and smiled. "I see that Mister Mordom has opened up your eyes. I'm glad."

"So am I." Sky said, looking up at the top of the doorframe. She sat still and relaxed his body, opened up the medikit and began spraying a blue liquid onto Sky's hand. The liquid heated up and hardened on contact, creating an instant bandage and antiseptic barrier all in one.

"You know what?" Sky said, breaking the silence as Mora took out some black cloth to wrap his hand up in.

"What?"

"You're a nice little girl." Sky smiled strangely.

"Of course I'm evil." Mora took his delusion as a sign that he was still under Mordom's control.

"Yeah, you're a 'bad person', but you're not mean-spirited."

"Did you happen to hit your head really hard?" She asked as she wrapped up his shelled-up hand, ensuring that it wouldn't move an inch while healing.

"I mean like…like…you don't have to do this for me…but you are."

"Well, if Mordom is going to utilize you, I'd hate for him to use something broken. I know I hate playing with broken dollies."

"What about that one then?" Sky asked, pointing to Cindy Sunshine.

"She's not broken. She's loved." Mora had grown attached to the doll ever since she had found it in an abandoned building years before meeting Grumm. It reminded her of how lucky she was to be alive and to have something to lean back on when times got rough.

"…She's loved…" Sky repeated as he began to avert his eyes upwards towards the ceiling. Mora gazed at Sky's watchful eyes for a while, trying to find out what he was thinking of, but gave up. Sky suddenly grabbed Mora with his good hand.

"Are you loved?"

Mora stared at him, unsure of what he meant. Of course she was loved! She got to live, and to play with dolls and be evil, to stay up all night and never have to go to school. She could wear what she wanted and draw monsters and…there was nothing else she could think of.

"What do you mean, 'are you loved'? Of course I am! Grumm loves to have me around…that's why he hasn't vaporized me yet!"

"Does anybody play with you or spend time with you?"

"I'm fine with Cindy Sunshine, Mr. Floppy and Pimsy..."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes…" She was becoming scared. "Are you okay?"

"I'm just wondering out loud…I'm sorry."

"Then be quiet about it." Mora pulled away from Sky. She turned her back on him as she began to leave. She then looked back, feeling a bit sorry for him in his current state. He had obviously flown far off his rocker, and worried her. Why would she want somebody so emotionally unstable to be a friend, anyways? Then again, she worked for Grumm, so it wasn't like it was anything new. Mora sighed.

"Do you want to play house with me?"

Sky silently nodded, and Mora smiled. "then come over here."

Back on Earth, Bridge was now sitting upright, but he was still curled up in a ball.

_It was evening, and the holding cell was cold. Bridge knew this place; he could have sworn that Jack and Z would occupy this pen years later. Cruger was standing in the doorway, looking quite healthy and well-rested. Things must have been easy back then._

"_Good evening, Miss…what was the name you gave your arresting officer?"_

"_Miss Corona, sir."_

"_Miss Corona, I am sorely disappointed in you. I'm sure your father would be as well. He was not in SPD to have his daughter become a criminal."_

"_I'm not a criminal! I'm a musician!"_

"_That's not what Cadet Tate was telling me earlier. He's been telling me all day about how the entire ship you served on was infested with criminals who have committed crimes all over the galaxy."_

"_Then arrest him too!"_

"_Miss Corona, I'd like for you to calm down. I can have these allegations dropped if you are willing to do unpaid labor for SPD for a period of time."_

"_What kind of labor?"_

"_I want you to train to become my B Squad Red Ranger."_

_There was an overwhelming mix of anger and sorrow felt for several moments, but the sorrow quickly melted away. "No. That's for Schuyler, not me."_

"_He won't be a red ranger for a very long time, Miss Corona. You, however, showed great potential on the battlefield. I want you to lead my B Squad."_

"_I can't. I won't put my life on the line for slave wages. I won't hurt those around me like what my father did to me. I won't have my mother crying over my body after I get fragged too! I just can't commit to that…"_

"Our job is pretty dangerous, isn't it…?" Bridge muttered to himself. He sighed, staring at his morpher, which had been placed on his nightstand ever since he had been placed in intensive care. He then walked into the bathroom and began to take a shower. He needed to think this all over.

Sky stared at the dolls in front of him with a frown on his face.

"I know there aren't many, Nova. Grumm won't let me collect any more…" Mora griped.

"It's a shame. Your collection's lacking…" Sky noted. "No boy dolls, and no blondes."

"I know!"

"I have a better game to play if you want."

"What is it called?"

"War."

"How do you play?"

"You fight."

"Fight you?"

"Is there anybody else?"

"But I can't fight you!"

"Well, can't you make somebody to fight?"

Mora looked at her book, then back at Sky. "Okay." She quickly drew up a giant punching bag monster and the three left for the sparring room.

Bridge quickly dressed himself in civilian clothes, not worried about regulations. Everybody had been slacking off since Sky left, so why shouldn't he? He tossed on a black long sleeve shirt, long and baggy camoflage-dyed pants, and the green jacket for the mall. He made a mental note of the location of his morpher as he began to scribble a note down on a piece of paper, quickly putting both in his coat pocket. He tightened his gloves until they began to cut off the circulation to his fingertips, then walked out towards the Command Center.

He stopped suddenly about a third of the way there. He had begun to hear voices calling out his last name. He turned around to see what was going on, and what he saw was something strange.

A tall man wearing a red uniform of a non-SPD origin was flagging down a man in a lab coat. It wouldn't have been an awkward sight if both of them weren't in ethereal states of being. It seemed to be another strange instance in Bridge's life where he was hearing and seeing past events, though what that skill was called was evading him at the moment.

"Hey Carson!" The man in red was calling out as he ran towards the lab coat-wearing man.

"Greg, you know my name. Just because we're in a business place doesn't mean you can't call me by name." The voice of the man in the lab coat seemed familiar.

"Okay, Johnny." Greg replied. Bridge began to follow them down the hallway as they headed towards the lab.

"So Greg, what is it?" Johnny asked.

"Well, same old. You? How's the little one doing?"

Johnny began to frown. "Well, we've gotten worried lately, Candice and I."

"Oh…?"

"…Have you noticed anything…strange?"

"Not really. Perfectly healthy."

"Well…I want you to watch everything for the next year. I know Bridge's a year older…"

Bridge realized where he knew the voice from now. "Dad…?" Bridge followed faster, making sure to be close to them both as they talked.

"What's wrong with Bridge?"

"Physical contact is becoming difficult…I think it has something to do with the experiments we did years ago."

"Experiments…?" Bridge thought aloud. Since when did his father, who was a family physician, ever do anything scientific?

"Do you think…?"

"I want to run tests on all of us."

"Tests…?" Did his father really know what was wrong with him?

"I understand."

"Will you let me?"

"This weekend. I don't wanna take all the kids out of school-"

"We're thinking that public school might not be an option for Bridge if this current trend keeps up…" Bridge knew the outcome of that.

"I see. Do you think that maybe…"

"All of us. I'm going to run tests and have Kat analyze them all. This could be serious…especially of all the kids start ending up like Bridge…" Suddenly, Greg's head bolted upwards.

"Duty calls."

"Is it Mirloc again?" Johnny asked.

"Of course! Damn punk can't stay still!" Greg joked.

"Be careful!"

"You know it!"

"No, I mean, be careful by the books." Johnny replied with a sour look on his face.

"I don't need to be safe! I've taken him in twice before!" Greg shouted as he began to run down towards the Command Center. The sounds and sights began to fade out, and soon Bridge was left alone again.

He sighed, not giving much thought to what he saw. He had other things to worry about.

"It's now or never." Bridge muttered to himself as he walked towards the Command Center. He walked in softly, sighed, wrapped the note around his morpher, and set it on Cruger's desk, then walked out to the parking garage.

Cruger arrived several minutes later and spotted the morpher on his desk. He had been fearing this for the last three days. He was only how badly Bridge had berated himself in the note. Kat came in to report that Bridge was missing, but Cruger already knew.

"Call the remaining members of B Squad to the Command Center," He told her. "because I have a feeling that they have no clue what Bridge's done."

"Yessir." Kat said before summoning the Rangers.

They walked in silently. Z had went to check on Bridge this morning and found that he was gone, so they knew that this meeting, at the very least, had something to do with him.

"I'm sure that you already know what I called you in for." Cruger said.

"Yessir." Z answered of behalf of the group.

"Commander sir, where is Bridge?" A voice called out from the back. Corona stood behind them.

"Miss Corona, it is good to see that you are well enough to join us. It seems that you came to at the best time; this letter from Officer Carson is addressed to you as well."

"…Letter…?" She saw his morpher on the desk and began to whimper. "I…oh no…"

"Miss Corona…?"

"Let me hear it." She said, burying her face in her collar.

"As I said, Officer Carson left a letter for me to read to B Squad, Miss Corona, and myself. I shall abide his wishes, as much as it pains me to do so." He held the letter up to eye level and cleared his throat.

"Dear Commander Cruger, Miss Corona, Z, Jack and Syd,

It is with a heavy heart that I am writing this letter. I have decided that perhaps this is the best time for me to take an extended leave of absence after all the damage I've caused as of late. I feel as if I have little control over myself and that I may become a pawn in the enemy's game, used to hurt those whom I have come to call my close comrades once more. I can only pray that Corona comes to in a state not much different from the previous. I'm deeply sorry for all the destruction I've caused and all of the trouble I'm causing for taking this sudden leave of absence, leaving Earth open one Ranger short again. I'm sure that Jack, Syd and Z can take care of themselves; I have a feeling that Mordom won't come back for a while anyways, considering the damage done to Sky's body between smashing up RIC and whatever I may have done to him. I'm not always right, but I think I may be this time.

But back to the matter at hand. I am not resigning, but this is not a vacation for me, either. I'm unsure as to when and if I may ever come back. I've been struggling for years to keep a calm composure and to keep my abilities in check, and to suddenly have them short circuit on me like this means that I'm slowly losing control again. It would be mentally and physically devastating to me and the rest of B Squad (and whomever happens to be the unfortunate soul who triggers the reaction) if it were to happen in SPD Headquarters again. Therefore, until I'm sure that I'm no longer a threat, I am taking this extended leave of absence. There are many cadets whom I believe are as good as or even better than me, and I can't see why Cruger would not promote one of them to take place in my stead.

If Miss Corona happens to be conscious and able by the time this letter is read, please let her know that I am deeply sorry and that, if needed, I'll be willing to pay for any damages."

"What a fucking idiot!" Corona shouted, walking out. Cruger stopped for a moment.

"Kat, could you go fetch her? I'm not done."

"She doesn't want to hear any more, sir."

"This was Officer Carson's last request. She should at least stay for the rest of it."

Kat nodded and brought Corona back and and consoled her during the rest of the letter. Cruger began to read on as soon as Corona was breathing normally. Kat's shoulder was understandably soaked at this point.

"I'd just like to say what an honor it was to work with everybody at SPD, and I hope that, in time, I'll be able to come back and work with you all once more.

-Sincerely, Officer Bridge Carson, SPD B Squad Green Ranger."

Cruger folded the letter up and looked at his cadets. Corona began to cry again, Z was biting her lip and looking down, Jack had a frown on his face, and Syd was giving herself a comforting hug in an attempt to make herself feel better about the situation.

"I know that none of this is good news, and it has come at the worst possible time, but we must all stick together. Bridge would not want us to fall apart over this, I'm sure if one of you were leaving, he'd be giving us the same speech right now."

"Yeah, and none of us would understand it." Z joked. Syd snorted.

"He'd want us to be laughing about how lame that letter was if it were somebody else. If it were Sky's, he'd be running to Sky's house and dragging him out of bed and then dragging him back here." Jack replied.

"He would, wouldn't he?" Corona asked. She smiled when the groups collectively nodded and sounded out in the positive. "You guys are awesome friends. It reminds me of my old friends…"

"Well, we try hard." Syd said, pulling a tissue out of her pocket and handing it to Corona.

"Thanks." Corona said as she quickly blew her nose. She smiled and walked out with Kat leading her back to the lab in a hug.

"What are we going to do, Commander?" Z asked.

"Lay low for now. Bridge may not always be right, but he usually isn't this sure about something unless it is highly probable. You three are to regroup and prepare for an assault. Remember, Mordom has used Sky has a weapon, so don't hesitate to attack him if provoked."

"Yessir!" The trio saluted Cruger.

"You are dismissed." The B Squad Trio left to go train. They were mentally prepared for a fight. Their next fight would be for Corona and Bridge.

Kat Smiled as she sat Corona down at her station. ACTER's shell was still not perfect, and RIC was severely damaged. Sky had bashed the robotic canine's skull in, and the CPU was trashed. Corona wished that Bridge was there to help fix up RIC, since she knew that he had worked on him several times. Boom was working as hard as he could to fix RIC, but he was definitely unsure of what he was doing. She walked over and started looking at what he was doing. She stared at the circuitry and started noticing certain things she was only somewhat sure she had seen before. She supposed that she had seen the schematics Bridge had used on the last upgrade. She grabbed a pair of tweezers and a Phillips Head screwdriver.

"I got this, Boom." She removed the skull casing and began to go to work. She worked like a well-oiled machine, her hands and brain going on for hours on their own like a separated automaton. ACTER was watching onwards, grinning with its new neutral lips.

"Interesting…" ACTER muttered to itself, deciding to send a little signal out to Z.

Z was plugged into her wireless pocket laptop playing metal as she took rounds at the punching bag when her headphones began to give off a signal.

"New message for Officer Delgado waiting in her mailbox." The signal buzzed, cutting out her music and disrupting her thoughts. "Oh boy, messages. Who mailed me now?" Z griped as she pulled off her boxing gloves and turned off her music.

She walked into the Commons Room and logged in on a computer. A DOS window popped up.

_Good evening, Officer Delgado. This is ACTER._

_Hello ACTER. What's up?_

_The sky, the clouds, the stars…_

_I meant what's going on._

_Oh. Pardon my literal translations. I just felt like chatting with somebody. Miss Corona's working on RIC right now. She almost seems possessed. It's creepy._

_Possessed?_

_I don't recall her working on RIC before…but she seems to know what she's doing. Now if only I could work like that…_

_Strange. _Z had a feeling that she knew what was up.

_I know! Do you think she'll be okay?_

_Of course she will._

_Oh, I'm receiving a message. Please hold…_

Z sat back and waited a minute. She turned on her headphones once more and rocked out in the chair during the wait.

_Sorry for that. Miss Corona was wanted by Commander Cruger._

_I don't need to know that._

_Oh, but I merely relay all information with all of my friends._

_You're a gossiping AI program!_

_No, I'm a gossiping cyborg. P_

…_Cyborg?_

_You'll see me in action soon. I promise._

_You now have a body?_

_Well, a shell. I have Mr. Carson and Miss Corona to thank for that. I'm still getting used to my optic sensors and my vocal implant._

Z almost had to ask who Mr. Carson was. She had gotten so used to seeing "Cadet" or "Officer" attached to Bridge's last name that any other title before it made it almost unrecognizable. However, Z was shocked to know that ACTER had already got the news of Bridge's letter.

_That's good. I'm glad to hear about your new form of existence. _

A long pause, then a short response. _You heard of Mr. Carson's leave of absence?_

_I heard the letter._

_I wish there was something we could do to help him out._

_Me too._

_Oh, the alarm is going to start sounding off. Talk to you soon._

The alarm then screeched, making the red warning lights flash in a panicking fashion. Z closed the DOS box and ran to the Command Center. Syd and Jack were already there, standing at attention. Corona was in the corner, waiting patiently.

"There is an energy disturbance at the Tantalus crash site. I want you three on high alert in this area, do you understand?"

"Yessir!" They saluted Cruger, then morphed and ran to the garage.

Cruger turned to face Corona and dismissed Kat before beginning to speak to her.

"I know what this's about, Commander, and you know my answer." Corona said before the old dog could speak.

"You listen to me, Stella-" Corona flashed him a dirty look. It was practically a slap in the face to disrespect her wishes. "you are wasting your time in Kat's lab. You are a better fighter than you are a mechanic."

"Bridge said in the letter-"

"I did not read the entire letter out loud." He had the letter in hand, and he looked prepared to finish reading it. "P.S. I'm requesting that this letter be read aloud to the B Squad and Corona. However, I wish for only Corona to know that I nominate her to be the first pick for who should replace me. She is a much better fighter than I will ever be, and I feel as if she would be better protected if she were to be a Ranger." He folded the letter. "He wants you to be safe without him, Stella. He only wishes for your safety."

"Doesn't anybody care about how I feel?" Corona asked. "I don't want to be a ranger, regardless of if I'm red, green, purple, orange, whatever! You know that I can't commit to a life of danger like that! I lost my family because of SPD, and I'm not going to let myself become roped into this idea that I have a lineage to uphold like Sky has! I could care less about saving the Earth and living on a tiny wage! I'm doing a job I enjoy! Isn't that enough for you? You gave me a choice, and I made it! I'm not going to go back on my choice! I'm not Sky, and I'd appreciate it if you realized that!" She felt relieved to finally let out her emotions.

"You are wasting your life in Kat's department, and you are letting Bridge and the others down with your selfish, ego-driven decisions! I'll stop thinking you're Sky when you stop acting like him!" Corona was taken aback. Was she really that much like him? She had tried so hard for the last fourteen years to distance herself from him in her own mannerisms, but had she only succeeded in becoming even more like him? "The bottom line is that I am not going to dismiss the wishes of one of my rangers. You are taking this morpher with you, whether you like it or not. What you do with it is your choice. I am done with you. You're dismissed. Go back to working on RIC if that's what you want. I've lost my patience with you."

Corona felt like she had just killed somebody as she walked up and took the B Squad Green morpher. It felt so wrong to be holding it. She had to do something about the feeling.

As soon as she arrived in the lab, she stood in front of ACTER.

"Tell me Mr. Carson's home address."

"I'm accessing it as we speak." ACTER replied.

The remaining Rangers arrived at the Tantalus crash site. As soon as their vehicles were parked, they drew their weapons and walked slowly towards the ship. They heard noises coming from inside the ship. Jack quickly and stealthily eased up to the ladder leading to the back door and checked the status of the surrounding area. He waved them over, and they softly sprinted over.

"Very good, Mora! Now, hold that stance!" The voice was Sky's, but an element of sadism was clearly present.

"My legs are sore!"

"You're going to get this roundhouse kick right while you're here or I'll let Grumm know that you left the ship!"

"Yes, Nova…" Mora replied, defeated.

Jack gave the signal to round the corner with their long range weapons drawn. They unloaded round after round as they ran towards Sky and Mora. Syd nailed Mora twice out of six shots fired, Z would've hit Sky twice if they hadn't bounced off his shield, with the end result being that all seven shots failed to cause damage, and all of Jack's fourteen shots bounced right off Sky's shield. On any other occasion, their charge would've been enough to take out even the toughest monsters, but it had been rendered harmless by Sky's shield.

"They hit me!" Mora cried out, holding her injured right arm. Sky ran to her side and helped her up. His B Squad uniform had been discarded for a full body suit similar to Cruger's, except the red stripes had been replaced with metal plating, and his hair had been twisted upwards and molded into tiny spikes, similar to the ones adorning Mordom's head. His face was pale and his eyes were surrounded in a black cloud and outlined in red. Long red surface-deep slashes ran across his cheeks in an arc, three on each side. His face looked remarkably like Mordom's now.

"Go back. I'll take care of them."

"Will you play with me then?"

"Of course, and I'll wrap up your arm, too. Go relax." Sky smiled sweetly and patted Mora on top of her head. She pulled out a small stick and pressed the rounded end of it, instantly transporting her in a flash of a blinding white light.

"You hurt my charge. Now I'm going to hurt you!" He thrust out his right hand, palm straight outwards. A beam of black energy flew outwards, landing less than an inch away from their feet. The explosion and debris tossed them backwards. They screamed in pain as they landed on their backs, demorphing as soon as they hit the ground. Syd slowly pushed herself up as she tried to recover.

"Sky…why?" She asked.

"Because I can." He sneered. "Now, how about another one?" He fired off another blast, nearly burying the rangers in a tidal wave of debris. He cackled softly, then grinned. "Oh, here's a good answer…I know why now! It's such a trip, that's why! When you get inside this body, you just wanna do bad things. You wanna see this body inflict as much damage as possible…it's such a rush!" He fired off another blast, tossing more debris their way. He wasn't looking for a kill, but merely just a long, drawn out maiming.

"KAT!" Cruger shouted. Kat looked up. "Where is Corona?"

"She left earlier with RIC, and I called her, but she said that she was going to do something. She's driving around a residential area…I don't understand."

"Nothing is more important than protecting her fellow rangers!" Cruger said, slamming his fist on his desk.

"I'm sure she'll get to the others in time. Although, she seems to be driving away from the scene…I'm worried."


	11. Home Delivery

_Before you read this chapter, go back and read Chapter Ten over. I replaced it with what should have been there. Sorry for the mix up. But hey, you already know what happens now…right?_

Corona stopped in front of the residential building written on the slip of paper ACTER had given her. RIC happily leaped out of the squad car, and yelped as he ran around chasing his tail. Corona had a sudden rush of envy come over her; Bridge lived in the white-collar part of town, in a good sized brick house with a nice lawn and a tree in the back. Bridge's home was everything she had wanted growing up, but she had the crawling feeling that, like many homes like this, the family inside was more than dysfunctional. Adding Bridge's powers into the mix made it a billion times more believable that Bridge did not have the picture perfect family that one would envision would be living in such a perfect home.

Corona saw the green hybrid Kawasaki motorcycle in the driveway sitting alongside a brand new Hyundai hydrogen 'golf car', as her friends used to call it. So his folks had a bit of cash to spare as well. She wondered how his family felt about Bridge working such a low-wage job, but decided to just go in.

"C'mon, RIC." She called out, catching the robotic canine's attention. She stuck her hand in her pocket and gripped the SPD green morpher tightly as she approached the door. She sighed, then knocked. A few moments later, a woman came to the door.

The woman looked almost exactly like Bridge; she was either his mother or an older sister, but Corona quickly guessed the former. Her dark brown hair was tied up in a bun, and her brown dress, which was made in a retro style reminiscent of the 1950's, touched the floor in a bell dome and hid her shoes. Face-wise, her smile was warm and inviting, but her hazel eyes gave the impression that they were gazing directly into your soul in an icy glare from hell.

"Hello there." The woman said. Her voice was clear and concise. The woman then spotted the SPD badge. "Ah, SPD. I'm guessing that you're here to talk to Bridge?"

"How very right you are." Corona replied.

"Well, come right on in. We'll be having dinner soon." The morpher screamed for attention for the seventh time in the last half hour.

"Can I use your bathroom first? The ride here made me a bit nauseous."

"Go ahead. If you go down the hall past the stairs, it'll be the first door on the left."

"Thanks."

Meanwhile, at the Tantalus crash site, Mordom was growing ever impatient of the situation.

"Where is your stupid friend? Did he manage to kill himself?" Mordom asked through Sky. The battle was simmering down now; the B Squad Trio took defensive positions on the other side of the ship. Jack opened up his morpher and radioed in an SOS, just as Sky unsheathed his sword from before and lit it up.

"Come on out!" He bellowed.

"I guess we're on our own, girls." Jack said as he morphed.

"Sir, I'm trying to help the team right now…I'm just doing it my own way." Corona spoke out into the morpher. Cruger was prepared to rip her limb from limb.

"Stella…"

"I still can't get used to that." She smirked as she played with her hair while looking in the bathroom mirror.

"I received your letter of release from our witness protection program the night of the accident. I decided to honor it as soon as you came to. But that is another story. Why are you not out protecting your teammates?"

"You said that I was to take the morpher, but what I did with it wasn't any of your business, remember? I'm doing what I think is right."

"You selfish brat! Why are you instigating?" Cruger knew exactly where she was now, and he knew what her motives were. "Leave Bridge alone!"

"He's never going to come out of his groove if I don't try something! I can't let him do this to himself. This is my fault, this is my problem, and it's time for me to stop running from my mistakes and failures. I'm not Sky; I don't bottle my pains and fears inside until I explode." She closed the morpher and left the bathroom. She ran into the woman once more as she left. She was just standing there, hands folded.

"His room is upstairs, third door on the left." She said softly. Corona softly nodded in response as she made her way to Bridge's room.

The house's interior, despite the warm exterior, looked more like the inside of the SPD's Lab. The hallways were lined in steel plating; the floor panels were screwed in, the stairs were lined with metal sheets, and everything in sight shined at the mere drop of light. The sound of RIC bounding around the bend and up the stairs sounded exactly like the sound of RIC bounding around the bends and down the halls of SPD; it was a very cold and empty feeling. This didn't seem at all to be like the same house she had seen on the outside. She felt cold and alone, despite the fact that it was warm and there were at least three beings, counting RIC, there in the house with her. She was humored by the fact that she was right about the house, and the family, after all.

She slowly caught up to RIC, who was sitting and waiting for her outside Bridge's door. She wasn't even in front of the door when she heard Bridge's voice.

"Go away." His voice was hitched slightly.

"Bridge, RIC and I-"

"Go away!"

"Bridge…" Corona frowned. The sliding door opened slowly, revealing the warmest looking room in the house.

The room was a decent sized room, but with all the machines and robots lying around the room, it looked almost too small for anybody to live in. The lone bookshelf filled with mechanic's manuals sat at the far end of the room, with a working desk and chair sitting next to it. The steel walls were home to various schematics held up by little magnet-based figurines, and most of the larger robots were built off of them. Many of the robots served only one purpose; one was an item retriever with a long arm for retrieving things on high shelves such as tools and books, another was a ceiling-based light which seemed to be able to move to wherever it was needed by the push of a button, and one was nothing more than an automated Lazy Susan-coat rack. Everything that wasn't hand built looked to be jerry-rigged to work much more efficiently, from the lights around the room, to the power tools used to work on them. She now understood why Bridge was considered the best mechanic in all of SPD Academy; his life seemed to revolve around designing and building anything and everything.

Bridge, however, was lying in bed, underneath the covers.

"…I guess I couldn't convince you to leave me be…" he mumbled as he rolled over underneath the sheets. The grey sheets and the creaky spring box mattress were a far cry from the forest green bedding and contour-forming mattress of the Academy dorm. "I'm glad to hear your voice." He commented. "It means you're okay, which's great." RIC pounced on the bed and barked. "Ah, and you managed to fix RIC. I'm impressed." Bridge sat up, revealing his reddened face. He had obviously been crying. "I feel a bit better knowing you're okay, but if this is an attempt to get me to come back-"

"Bridge, please. They need you." She sat down at the end of the bed and gave her best serious look.

"Honestly, I'm not even comfortable with you being this close to me."

"Bridge, that's not the poi-"

"I'm a danger to myself and others, Corona."

"What would I have to prove to you that it's okay?"

Bridge got out of bed, pushing RIC and Corona off of him. "Get out. I've made my decision. Just go."

"I can't replace you, Bridge."

"You're a billion times better than me, Corona."

"But I'm not as smart as you."

"They have Kat, don't they?"

"But Kat never thinks out of the box like you."

"Get out." Bridge's tone became sterner as the morpher sounded off once again. "They want you, so go."

"You said it yourself. 'Until I'm sure that I'm no longer a threat, I am taking this extended leave of absence.' I came here to prove to you that you're not a threat."

"And how exactly do you plan to do that?" He shut the door with a press of a button on his desk.

"Well, when you were in bed, I didn't feel the slightest bit pained, for starters."

"Oh, big deal." Bridge replied in a condescending tone.

"Alright then. How do you want me to prove it?"

"I really would like it if you left."

"And left you here to sulk? Fat chance."

"I'm not sulking!"

"You're crying! It's close enough." She was growing tired of his childish games. Most of the time, it was cute, witty, or interesting, but it had suddenly turned into an immature whine fest. Bridge was unable to respond to her retort; there was nothing he could think to say in response. "Alright, I have an idea." She got up off the bed and walked up to Bridge, who was practically squirming up against the wall in fear. She reached out for his hand and interlocked their fingers. To their surprise, her shield never came to block the contact. They looked down, then looked up and gave each other a confused look.

"Look what I did to you." Bridge said, pulling his hand out from hers.

"That's not supposed to happen…" Corona said. She quickly forced her shield up, and it appeared. She sighed heavily, feeling a bit calm. She then quickly conjured up a shield spike, which also appeared. "Well, I think this might actually be good."

"No, it's not." Bridge said, moving to his left. "You're in more danger now than ever. There's nothing to stop me from acciden-"

"Seriously, you seem to be fine." Corona said, following him as he tried getting away from her.

"No I'm not! Just leave!" He screamed, clutching his head as if somebody had just slammed a hammer against it. He curled up in a ball in the northeast corner of the room, trying to get her to go away. Corona merely bent down in front of him and frowned. She ran her left hand through his hair; she was surprised to find that it was feather soft and free of knots, unlike what its appearance suggested it would be.

"Looks can be deceiving." Corona said with a smile as she continued to run her hands through his hair.

"But…I don't get it," Bridge began to say as he stood up. "how did your shield fall? Why aren't you in pain? How did-"

"Bridge, drop it. It's fine. Take your morpher and let's go." Corona said as she reached for the eternally beeping device. Cruger would not stop until he got full contact with her, it seemed.

"-you do that? Your shield…I'm perplexed…"

"Then sush."

"I mean, why would it drop and then sti-"

Corona refused to say the same thing three times. She pressed him up against the wall and quickly pressed her lips against his, slamming his head against the wall in the process. This'll be proof enough, Corona thought as she began to mentally count to twenty.

Twenty seconds was all it took the last time for her to slip into a cardiac arrest, according to Kat, so to prove to Bridge that he wasn't harmful, that's all the time she needed. She slowly thought of that night, how she slowly began to fade and die in his grasp, of how her thoughts and his meshed for the brief moment they were connected, of how terrified she was of dying. She had always feared dying while underneath the banner of SPD, but not in the way she almost did. She had nearly died by the hands of the two closest men in her life, and it was terrifying and comforting at the same time to think that she could have died like that. If by some chance she was wrong this time, she believed that she would die a happy woman.

Bridge was much more terrified than Corona, and he quickly began to hold his breath. He began to panic and attempted to push away, but Corona had completely pinned him against the wall. She had once again interlaced their fingers, which made him more panicky. He began to plan out what action he'd need to take if she had another heart attack, and how he'd have to explain this to his parents and to SPD and to Corona's family…if she still had one, that is. He worried that he'd have to hunt them all down after it was all over. However, as the seconds ticked away, he was more worried about breathing. He started having a panic attack, which caused Corona to just push him down harder and press her lips harder against his. The high he was getting from lack of oxygen quelled his nerves a bit, but that wasn't enough. He began to imagine how much longer she could keep it up, because he was enjoying the sudden rush as it continued to run through him.

She let go after twenty seconds, and Bridge resisted the urge to lunge forward as she pulled away. He stared at her in that infamous deer-in-headlights stare, shocked at the fact that they were both standing there, unharmed and stunned all the while.

"I'm not dead. You're fine." Corona said, pulling back. She walked to the desk, placed the morpher on the desk and walked out, taking RIC with her. The steel door closed slowly, and Bridge slid down the wall, letting everything in his head slow down and compile.

"Sir, RIC appears to be returning to the base, but Stella does not." Kat reported.

"Damn her!" Cruger shouted. "Get contact with her now!" Her growled angrily as Kat quickly relayed a final signal to the green morpher.

The morpher buzzed about the desk as it rang out. Bridge picked it up and opened up. He jumped as Cruger's voice bellowed over the speaker.

"Damn you, Stella! Didn't I warn you about disturbing Officer Carson? I should have you arrested and locked up for insubordination! Your father would be horribly dishonored at your inaction to save your fellow Rangers! And don't turn my words on me again like the last time! Get going!"

"Um…sir?" Bridge said. Cruger paled and gasped at the sound of his voice. "I don't think there's a Stella around here. It's just me."

"Where is Corona?" He barked.

"She left." Bridge sighed at the very thought of having to say that.

"What?" Cruger was confused.

"Don't worry sir. I'm on it." Bridge closed the morpher and ran out the door.

At the Tantalus crash site, Mordom, through Sky, continued to thrash the charging Rangers. He held his sword parallel to his chest, and began to run his fingers along the tip of the blade.

"Fire Saber!" he called out, and the flames shot up and swirled around the blade like a hurricane. He bent his knees and prepared to charge them as they fired on his position. They missed on every shot, as they were too worn to aim properly. "Burning Rush!" Sky cried out, running towards the trio, the Flame Saber erupting in a blinding blaze as he sprinted. As he passed them, he thrust the blade sideways, causing it to cut into them and partially searing their uniforms. It happened so fast, that the suits didn't have time to catch on fire, but merely spill out sparks like a waterfall onto the ground below them. It was a quick fall to the ground and an even quicker demorph for them. Bleeding, tired and defeated, Syd refused to give up. She slammed her fist against the ground.

"Sky, I'm not giving up on you!" She shouted as she slowly caught her bearings and began to stand up.

"You pathetic fools are a disgrace to SPD!" Sky shouted. "Your sense of justice, honor, and discipline is fractured! I'll get rid of you and your corrupt enterprise by myself!"

"Sky, listen to yourself…" Z said as she followed Syd's lead. "SPD protects the innocent and fights against injustice all over the galaxy! Mordom's feeding you lies and using your hatred against you!"

"Lies! All of you are liars, thieves and murderers!" Sky said, sheathing his sword and firing off another palm blast, flinging the girls back roughly half the length of a standard football field. The girls fell hard, and were knocked unconscious.

"Sky! You're not like this! You're not a murderer! You're a jerk most of the time, but you're SPD! We are your friends! Stop this!" Jack said as he got up. A distant humming sound came rolling in behind him, but he was focused more on the task at hand.

"You must have me confused with somebody who cares, Red Ranger." Sky grinned. "Hm? Who do we have here?" He said, looking back at the vehicle drawing closer.

"Freeze, scumbag!" Corona shouted. RIC barked in agreement; that is, if he were to have been understood by anybody else besides other dogs, they would have known that he said the same thing.

"Oh good, I can finish what I started with her…" Sky said, unsheathing the sword once more and unleashing a fiery wave of energy with just a swipe of the sword. He repeated several times to ensure a hit, but Corona deftly evaded every wave with the grace of a swan. She stopped the bike just short of the last blast, and the debris from the blast shot up over her and RIC. Luckily, she had thrown up her shield before the debris hit, so all it did was bounce off the shield.

"Nice try, Mordom, but you'll have to try harder." She dropped her shield. "C'mon, RIC, we gotta keep our promise to Cruger and help the Rangers." She got off the bike and ran up to Jack.

"Bring the girls back to base." Jack ordered.

"No. Both Bridge and Cruger want me here, so I'm here." She then gave Jack a look. "You should go back to the base. The three of you have had enough action for today."

"But you don't have-"

"A morpher? I know. I'll be fine. Just get the three of you to safety." Jack frowned, knowing that there was sense behind her words. He slowly walked over and, with RIC's assistance, got the girls into the Delta Cruiser's backseat. Meanwhile, Corona was preparing for the fight of her life. She quickly fired up her shield spike and prepared for Mordom's initial Burning Wave, which came almost instantly.

On the way back, Jack was nearly knocked off the road by a green motorcycle blazing past at top speed. He would've turned around if he hadn't seen the SPD logo on the jacket of the driver.

"Well well, it looks like Corona brought some back up…" Jack joked as he continued onwards.

Sky dominated the fight, sending Burning Wave after Burning Wave in Corona's direction. Whatever she couldn't dodge, she deflected with her shield spike. As she got into range of the Flame Saber's range, She began to swing violently and expertly at Sky.

"Die!" She screamed as she blocked his thrust and countered with a swift kick upside the head. She grabbed the blade and hurled herself on top of the blade, using it as leverage for a brutal back-flip kick. It took only a moment for Mordom to collect Sky's composure and slice at her while she was still in the air. The blow set her jacket on fire, which she quickly took off and tossed at Sky. He pushed it aside with his injured hand and sneered.

"I can assure you that your current victories are merely flukes." He commented as he prepared another Burning Wave. He fired off several more Burning Waves, this time getting lucky. One hit was all it took to knock Corona off her high horse, and every shot after the lucky shot struck, burning holes and scars into the unfortunate Corona, who had neglected to force her shield up. Sky chuckled as Corona dropped like a sack of potatoes. "That was almost too easy! What ever happened to your shield, my dear? Oh, don't answer. Don't get up. I'll just finish this quickly!" As he raised the sword, several shots rang out through the air from the direction of the Tantalus, striking Sky from behind. Sky cried out as he fell forwards on his sword. The motorcycle dropped close by and the rider quickly holstered his pistol and ran to her side.

"Corona…" Bridge said, taking off his helmet and kneeling next to her.

"Bridge, go…" He mindlessly ignored her plea and helped her up.

"My job is to protect the innocent and those who can't protect themselves." Bridge said as she made it to her feet. She weakly propped herself up against him and fell into unconsciousness. He gently picked her up and laid her on top of his motorcycle. He then looked back at Sky and sneered.

"Sky, Mordom, whoever you are, you're going down!" Bridge shouted. "You've done enough damage to my friends, and if I didn't do something about it, I'd regret it!" Bridge tightened his gloves, cracked his neck and prepared for a one-on-one.

"I honor your bravery…I suppose that, given the fact that you're Nova's friend and all, I should give you a fair shot at actually landing a punch." He sheathed his sword and took a defensive stance. He was forcing Bridge to make the first move, but Bridge refused. Mordom huffed, generated a force shield, and charged at Bridge.


	12. Bridge Burning At Both Ends

Bridge quickly panicked, but then decided to strafe to his left and dodge Sky's shield. Mordom couldn't stop quick enough and turn around to dodge the butterfly kick Bridge executed against him. The unblocked blow on Sky's flank sent him flying forwards onto the ground. It was obvious that, shield or no shield, Bridge was going to put up a good fight. Mordom dropped Sky's shield, got up, and brushed Sky off.

"I wish we had this fight the last time…you've proven yourself to be a challenge." Mordom chuckled.

"Oh, I'm good enough for you." Bridge taunted as he took a fighting stance. Mordom decided that the fight needed to end quickly. He let the shiv slide down Sky's sleeve as he turned and ran at Bridge. Mordom leaped over the roundhouse kick that would've knocked him down, kicked Bridge's leg down, and drove the shiv into Bridge's right hip. Bridge gasped as the metal raced down beneath his skin before quickly being pulled out and leaving a bolt of pain running through him. He winced as he grabbed his hip and fell to the ground. Mordom landed on both feet and turned around to grin at his fine work.

"Do you give up yet?" Mordom asked.

"Never." Bridge said, gaining his composure. He normally would call for backup at this point in a fight, but he knew he had to hold his ground for Corona's and Sky's sakes. If he was going to get his friend back, he would have to push his pain tolerance to its maximum before even considering to run away. He had to be strong for all of his friends now, despite the fact that he knew he was completely outmatched.

"What a fool you are!" Mordom shouted, pulling a shuriken out of his uniform's jacket and tossing it straight at Bridge's head.

Bridge panicked and, without knowing, threw up a telekinetic wall which slowed the shuriken down long enough for him to toss himself backwards and narrowly dodge the flying hunk of metal. He landed on his back, then quickly drew his pistol and fired several times. He managed to only hit Sky once, but he struck Sky's only weak point: his left hand. He shattered the shell surrounding it, sending a fire shooting all the way up his arm. Sky quickly pulled his left hand to his chest, hoping that he'd quell the pain, but he only managed to make it worse. His eyes bugged out as he began to breathe heavily. Bridge's side screamed in pain, but there was no time for him to delay; Mordom had temporarily lost control of Sky and it was the only chance he was going to get to make a worthwhile charge.

"SPD! Emergency!" Bridge shouted, morpher in hand. The green beams of light that exploded out of his morpher displayed his uniform, which then shot backwards at him and flung him head-first towards the ground. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he crouched and guarded his face with his left forearm; which he then withdrew as the back and front pieces of his helmet connected at the sides of his head. He then struck a quick pose and shouted "SPD! Green!" In mere moments, he had gone from an officer with below-average fighting skills, quite a bit of luck, and a mediocre side arm to a Power Ranger with both a baton and a high-grade laser weapon to compensate for said fighting skills.

He drew out his Deltamax Striker and fired off a few decent shots after a quick leap in the air towards Sky. Mordom growled and drew out the Fire Saber. He charged it up as soon as Bridge hit the ground. Bridge, realizing that one should not bring a gun to a knife fight, turned the turret of his Deltamax Striker into the D-Baton. Mordom unleashed two Burning Waves towards Bridge, both of which missed as Bridge charged at Mordom. A few thrusts and jabs were Bridge's first moves, and Mordom could only dodge them. Trying to use his sword with only one hand was tough, as the blade was a bit on the heavy side and required two hands to perfectly control it. Bridge, however, remedied the situation by roundhouse kicking the sword out of his hand and into the dirt. Mordom growled and palm blasted Bridge back so hard that he had demorphed before he hit the ground.

"Can't…give…up…" Bridge said as he pushed himself up. "Not for Sky…not for the team…not for Corona…"

Mordom walked over to his sword, but RIC quickly intervened and nabbed the sword out of the ground in his jowls.

"You infernal mechanical waste of materials!" Mordom shouted as he began to fire at RIC.

Bridge morphed once again, finding yet another opportunity to do so. He took out his D-Baton and quickly charged at Mordom, striking several quick blows. Mordom growled and slugged Bridge, causing sparks to fly from his helmet as he fell back.

"Fine, you want to fight rough? Let's go!" Mordom taunted as he took a step back and grabbed Sky's morpher. He morphed quickly and drew out Sky's D-Baton.

"Alright, Green Ranger, you think you're so tough?"

"I don't need to be tough! I just need to be brave!" Bridge replied, charging at Mordom. Bridge's overhead swing was blocked and earned him a swift kick to the gut. He took two steps back and quickly gained his composure.

"You're sloppy. That's why you're only a green ranger." Mordom taunted.

"Well then, if you're so good, how come you're not red?" Bridge said with a grin. He was expecting a retaliation, which he got in a big way. Mordom quickly took the offensive to a whole new level; he fired off several shots with the Striker at medium range to disorient Bridge, then he quickly dislodged the D-Baton and brutally slashed at Bridge. Sparks showered over the field as Bridge demorphed once again as he barrel rolled across the ground. Mordom didn't stop there, however. He wasn't going to allow Bridge a third chance to catch him off-guard. As Bridge got up, Mordom kicked him in the chest, dropping the hapless green ranger back down with a whimper.

"Bravery gets you nowhere when you're nothing but an untrained weakling…" He said, stepping on Bridge's head and roughly pushing it across the rocky soil. A small trail of blood began to "Now you're all alone. You got any last words?" Bridge slowly pulled himself out from under Mordom's grasp and began to crawl backwards as the blood began to drip down into his left eye. Mordom had assembled the Striker and had it aimed directly at Bridge's chest. "Anything at all before I send you to the little Ranger Reject place in the sky?"

"Yeah. Back off!" Bridge focused his thoughts on pushing Sky back as he lifted up his right hand. A sudden rush of mental energy rushed forwards, sweeping Mordom off his feet and tossing him high into the air. Mordom fired off a shot, but it completely missed Bridge. Bridge got up off his feet and reached for his sidearm pistol. He fired off several shots as Mordom flew through the air, hitting him on every shot before he hit the ground. Mordom demorphed and stayed down for a moment or so, before getting up and snarling.

"Lucky shot!" He shouted, firing off a palm blast that struck Bridge in the chest and pushed him back. He then tossed out a smoke bomb to disguise his retreat, but he didn't need it much. Bridge was knocked out cold.

Hours later, Bridge found himself in the SPD Base's Infirmary, a heavily bandaged Corona sitting at his bedside, the Fire Saber lying across her lap.

"Hey there, Sunshine." Corona said with a smile as Bridge looked up at her.

"You're okay…" Bridge replied weakly.

"I'm in a lot of pain, but Kat said I'm allowed to move about…well, just not out of the infirmary. The gang's all here with ya, so it's not like we're missing anything." Bridge lightly sat up, with Corona's assistance, to find that the rest of B Squad was lying in beds of their own, resting silently.

"So…your name is Stella…?" Bridge asked in a tone suggesting that he still wasn't awake yet.

"I suppose Cruger said something about it." Corona replied.

"More like shouted it."

"He was upset at me. It's understandable." She looked down at the floor. "Ya know…you try so hard to run from the things about yourself that you hate…and in the end, you end up becoming the things you hate the most."

"Your father?" Bridge asked, looking over at her. She was silent for a moment, then she clenched the hilt of the saber as if to summon courage and strength from it.

"I hated him because he was like Sky…he never listened to reason…he wore himself down to nothing…and then he died. He didn't care about us at all…I thought Sky would have more sense…but it seems as if I got all of the sense…what good it did me…I tried so hard to be the opposite of what I am that…that I became everything I never wanted to be. I became Sky. I became my father. What I never became was a Ranger. I was selfish, and I hated both of them, but I loved them both more. I loved what I had, and they fought and succeeded in taking it away. I just wish they knew how much it hurt me to leave home…" Her voice was hitching, and Bridge knew that she was crying. He regretted asking the question.

"I'm sor-"

"No," Corona said, placing her hand on Bridge's shoulder. "don't be. I can't live my life in fear of the truth. I can't live my life pretending I'm something…that I'm someone I'm not. I have to be honest and truthful if I am to be an honorable member of society." She stopped suddenly, and gave a face suggesting that she was playing back her own words. "I sound like him too…oh, the horror." She said with a laugh. Bridge smiled in response. "Well, it's true, what I said before. I can't keep running away from my destiny and my eventual death. My past has caught up with me and I have to confront it, even if it means my death."

"Very true." Bridge replied, gently nodding. His face burned and his forehead was throbbing, but he managed to nod and smile to please Corona's aching heart. "…you want a hug?" He asked as he slid out of bed. His right hip started howling at him, but he had to get up.

Corona looked up at him and snorted. "You're one of those kinds of people, eh?" Bridge wasn't sure of the reference, so he merely shrugged it off. "Well, since you can't hurt me any more than I already am, I guess I'll take you up on that." She stood up and lied the sword down in the chair, then gave Bridge a warm hug.

They stood there in silence for what seemed to be an eternity, filling the gap left behind in Bridge's room. Corona knew that she should've stayed there longer, that she shouldn't have left him hanging there in a strange daze that she knew he had been in. She felt strange, being able to feel the warmth emanating from his body, the feel of his arms around her, the soft moistness of his neck and shoulder that was coated in a thin layer of sweat from being wrapped under sheets for hours. She wanted nothing more than to stand there until one of them fell to the floor.

Bridge, on the other hand, was screaming on the inside. He was still terrified at the mere thought of touching her, of getting close. What if everything wasn't alright? What if suddenly, his powers lashed out uncontrollably and sent her flying into the nearest pointy object and killed her? What if…? For a moment, he shut his own mind off and just stood there peacefully and enjoyed the first hug he had given and the second physical interaction he had gotten himself into in nearly fifteen years, and he let himself enjoy it in peace.

Unbeknownst to either of them, the trio and Kat had begun to observe their quiet moment, waiting for one of them to have a seizure of some sort. Corona pulled out of the hug, leaving Bridge standing there, waiting. Corona grabbed a tissue and blew her nose, tossing out the tissue in the garbage can next to Bridge's nightstand.

"Thanks for that. I needed it." Corona said as she grabbed the saber. Kat cleared her throat and Corona turned around. She and Bridge both began to blush and panic as they noticed their audience.

"You're all free to go if you wish." Kat said. Bridge and Corona half-ran out the door as the others slowly slinked out of their beds. Kat resisted the urge to ask what the embrace was about, yet she rejected the idea that she should report it to Cruger.

Up on the Terror Spacecraft, Sky was sound asleep, sleeping away his wounds. He was wrapped from head to toe in bandages in Mora's bed, which had constricted him to the point that breathing was stammered. Mora sat in the art deco chair with her arm in a makeshift sling, waiting for her mentor to awaken. Mordom arrived, finding the scene depressing.

"Miss Mora, why do you sit and wait for Nova while we should be having a tea party?"

"Because Nova promised me a lesson."

"A fighting lesson?"

"Yes."

"Oh, Nova is not as good of a teacher as me, my dear! I can train you to be better than Nova, if you wish!"

"Oh, I do!" Mora replied with a wicked smile.

Back at the SPD Earth base, Corona was putting the finishing touches on ACTER's shell when Syd walked in. Kat could tell that something was about to happen, and that report to the doctor she had to bring down to the infirmary that she needed to deliver suddenly seemed ready to be brought down. Kat left as Syd approached Corona.

"Hi there, Officer Drew." Corona said with a smile as she dropped her spraycan of light peach paint. She saw Syd's stern look and realized that something was up.

"I want to have a girl-on-girl chat with you." Syd said.

"Sure." She pulled down her doctor's mask and leaned over ACTER's chassis. "What do you wanna talk about?"

"It's about Bridge."

"Is he okay?" Corona asked in a concerned tone.

"You and him…it's gotta stop."

"What do you mean?"

"You can't just go around toying with him."

"Toying with him?"

"You know what I mean."

"No I don't."

"That little scene in the infirmary? You know SPD policy; no fraternizing with fellow employees, regardless of what department they're in."

"There's nothing between us. He gave me a hug because I was crying. Sorry to let you guys find out he's human."

"…and your breakfasts and shopping sprees…I won't stand around while you break his heart."

"Oh, and you and Sky don't have those little moments too?" Syd was taken aback. She had never once made a move on Sky, and vice-versa. The occasional well-wishing and the assisting in tough things was part of being on a team. "It's the little things in life, Syd. Get over it."

"Bridge is a part of our team, and you've managed to separate him from us emotionally and physically. I won't stand around and watch him get torn apart by the likes of you."

"And like you guys haven't done that to him as it is?" Corona was tired of being condescended by a self-reassuring snob like Syd. "You act as if I've never heard you guys behind the scenes. I hear your criticism of his skills, a lack of respect for his methods, and an overall lack of respect for him in general! You don't understand what it's like to have to cut yourself off from the world. You have the world in your hands. You wouldn't know what to do with yourself if you had to live your life fearing for the lives of those around you."

"You don't know how it is for me! I couldn't be a normal kid and have normal friends! I was picked on and shunned for my powers! Nobody wanted to play with me because they thought I'd do something bad to them!"

"Did you ever have to hide at lunch time to make sure kids didn't throw rocks at you to get a giggle over the fact that you couldn't be touched?" Corona felt her skin tingle and burn as she began to lose her temper. "Can you imagine not being able to touch anybody because your hand stops centimeters above their skin, separated by a barrier of red light? Can you imagine having to cry yourself to sleep because you can't get hugs and kisses like all the other little kids your age?"

Syd fell silent for a moment. She then collected her thoughts and continued down her warpath. "What does any of this have to do with Bridge, anyways? We're just standing here arguing over who had-"

"Have you ever taken the time to sit there and listen to him, or are you too busy downgrading his sanity to do so?"

"Excuse me?"

"Have you ever listened to him, ever, without questioning a word he says? Have you ever taken hours out of your time to hear him talk about himself, or do you subject others to that whenever they try to do so?"

"I don't do that!"

"Do you know what it's like to have to feel like you can't get close to anybody? Have you ever locked yourself inside your room and built a world of friends you can't hurt, who will never leave you or fall apart and die underneath your hands like everyone else?"

"Huh…?"

"Have you ever gone to his home and taken a look around? It's a beautiful home, but it's empty and cold…there was no feeling, no emotion…just silence and mechanical precision! It hurts to know that people live like that! It hurts to know that he grew up like that! He's such a nice person and he doesn't deserve it!"

Corona began to tear up as the images flooded her mind. She bit her lip and turned around, trying to keep her cool. Syd frowned; Bridge didn't talk much about anything unless it was a random, off-color comment, or some moment of sudden fleeting genius. Syd couldn't argue with Corona anymore, she could only sympathize with Bridge and try to calm Corona down. She reached out to grab Corona's hand that remained on the table, but it stopped short of actually connecting; Corona's shield reacted and shocked Syd mildly. She pulled back with a weak whine as Corona looked down and stared at her hand.

"So it was only temporary…"

"…What was?" Syd asked.

"My shield was down…"

"Shield…? Oh, that must've been what Bridge talked about before…"

The alarm went off suddenly, interrupting the girls.

"B Squad, report to the B Squad Commons Room with extreme caution." Kat's voice boomed out.

"Bridge is in there!" Syd said.

"Alone?"

"Jack was in there earlier…but I don't know…"

"I'm coming with you." Corona said.

"Um, do the words 'extreme caution' mean anything to you?"

Corona fired up her shield spike. "They mean 'have fun' to me."

Bridge found himself alone in the Commons room, being dangled in the air by his shirt collar by Mordom.

"You can tell me where Corona is, or I can cause plenty of trouble and wreak a lot of havoc in this base." Mordom said, trying to use his abilities of persuasion on the heavily injured green ranger. Bridge, however, was naturally resistant to such mental attacks.

"Not a chance!" Bridge shouted, trying to squirm free.

"I'm just trying to relieve you of lost patience, boy. Now I'll ask you again, where is she?"

"Have you ever tried to mind control a psychic?" Bridge asked, a sting of arrogance gnawing at Mordom's patience. "You don't seem to be all that good at it." Bridge was trying to call Mordom on a bluff as he struggled to block Mordom's powers of persuasion.

"I have a way of making you give me what I want that even you can't resist." Mordom taunted as a black cloud began to drop from Mordom's body and engulf Bridge's legs. Bridge flailed helplessly in a final effort to get free of Mordom's grasp.

Moments later, Jack, Z, Syd and Corona were rounding the corner down the hall from the Commons Room. The B Squad Trio had their pistols in hand, while Corona had her shield spike prepared.

"I'll phase through the wall and see what's going on, then I'll give a shout. Got it?" The rest of the group nodded in response. Jack phased through the wall right before the door to find a seemingly neutral scene. Bridge was standing in the middle of the room by himself, holding his head in a pondering manner.

"Bridge? What's going on?" Jack asked.

"This." Bridge pulled out his pistol and nailed Jack in the chest. Jack cried out, causing Z and Syd to run in. Z duplicated herself into three in case of a sudden need for backup.

"Bridge?"

"Z…get out while you still can…" Bridge pleaded as Mordom aimed his pistol at the true Z.

"What's going on?" Syd asked.

"I have no control over myself…I'm struggling to speak…"Bridge said as he fired off a shot, just barely missing Z's head by less than a centimeter. "Take me out!" Bridge shouted as the two duplicate Z's rushed to grab his arms. "No, better idea. I'll just take you all out…again!" His voice dropped as he dropped his pistol and unleashed a massive telekinetic wave against the duplicates, sending them flying into opposite sides of the room. "No!" Bridge grabbed his head and collapsed to the ground.

"Mordom…" Corona mumbled as she ran in. Bridge looked up.

"Stella! Get out of here!" Bridge shouted as he got up. "It's what…he wants…"

"Let him go, you coward!" Corona shouted as she attempted to run up to Bridge. Z and Syd stopped her.

"Not a chance." Z said. "We'll deal with this." Z and Syd turned their pistols on Bridge.

"Please…take me out…" Bridge began to beg. The girls nodded and fired, both hitting Bridge in the chest. Bridge slumped back as he was knocked out, forcing Mordom out of his body. Mordom sparked a bit upon rematerializing, but was unfazed.

"I want my student. Give her to me now!" Mordom demanded.

"Not a chance!" Z shouted.

"Fine! I'll just take her!" Z and Syd prepared to fire, but Mordom fired a palm blast that sent all three girls back against the wall. Corona got up slowly as Mordom approached her. He dusted her off, then grabbed her by the throat.

"You have an invitation. If you don't come, I will kill all of your friends, including little Nova. Understood?" Corona nodded slowly, then Mordom put a piece of paper in her hand. "Take care, my little ducky. We shall meet again." He then let go of her and smoke bombed his way back up to the Terror Spacecraft. Corona collapsed to the ground before she decided to look at the slip of paper in her hand.


	13. Choices

In the Terror Spacecraft, Sky was weakly defending himself against Mora's powerful kicks and punches. Even with his force shield shocking her on impact, Mora was able to buckle Sky's legs with one heavy blow. Mordom took a seat against the wall and watched his old student and his new student spar. Sky anticipated Mora's attack and slammed the shield against her leg at an angle, sending her down to the floor.

"Ow!" Mora said.

"Sorry, Miss Mora, but you should have seen that coming." Sky said. His charming smile peeked up beneath the bandages, calming Mora's temper. He dropped his shield and helped Mora up with his good arm. His left arm was trashed, but still useable. Mora was a miracle worker with the right medical supplies; Sky went from heavily damaged to being able to stand and carry on a small fight in a matter of hours.

Mordom enjoyed the playful match, but was heavily weakened. Bridge had managed to peel straight through his mental control, leaving Mordom with little control from the neck up, barring sudden emotional surges. Bridge's natural mental draining capacity kicked in halfway through as well, which began to drain off his consciousness. The two shots to Bridge's chest were just an excuse to let go of him. Mordom, in all, was tired.

However, Grumm didn't care about how they felt. He wanted results.

Grumm barged into the sparring room and spotted Mora and Sky sparring.

"What is the meaning of this?" Grumm asked, grabbing Mora by her injured arm. She cried out, and Sky stepped in by grabbing Grumm's arm and tossing it off. Grumm then grabbed Sky's arm and tossed him against the wall.

"Grumm, watch the boy! I need him." Mordom shouted.

"Keep him under control if you wish to keep him alive." Sky slowly got up, but collapsed to his knees. Mora ran to his side and helped him up.

"Emperor, he's a guest and Mordom's assistant! We must be gentle and friendly. We can't have upset guests."

"Why are you fighting with them? Are you planning to fight the Rangers yourself?"

"I'm still drawing! I just want to be a good fighter, too. Besides, he has a weak defense and I'm helping him build it up."

"Why haven't we defeated the Rangers yet?"

"My old student has allied herself with them, and she's been guarded by them all along. I plan to draw her out and get rid of her, and then the Rangers will be weak and defenseless. I need a monster and some Krybots to keep the Rangers busy while I take care of my student."

"Agreed, but this will cost you."

"Money means nothing. This is a fight between me and her; the Rangers don't need to be involved."

"That is something I like to hear." Mordom stood up and began to search through his suit for his billfold.

Down on Earth in the SPD Base, Stella was sitting in the Commons Room, sitting on the couch and thinking about the note. She knew that she had to go, but she feared her demise. It was her fear to die and leave those she cared about behind, especially when it came for doing it for SPD. She didn't want to die under Cruger's badge; she didn't want to sacrifice her life under Cruger's watchful eye. She feared the change that was coming, she feared the pain she had inflicted upon her friends. She wanted to run again, run and never be found this time. She remembered what good trying to save those she cared about the last time; Sky put her in jail the second she caught his eye, even after she had saved him from Grumm's attack on the Tantalus only a year beforehand. She didn't want to be a Ranger; she wanted to fade into the background and let others be the heroes. She wanted nothing but the peace her home didn't have. She wanted a home with no fighting, no pain, and no sorrow, but Grumm and Mordom would never let her have it. Mordom wanted nothing but power, Grumm wanted nothing but supremacy, and she threatened both of their desires with her presence. She had to do something, but she wanted to do nothing. She sighed as she looked at the note, and decided to take a nap on the couch. She was going to need the energy either way.

Several hours later, Stella awoke and walked into the infirmary where Bridge still lay sleeping. She sighed and looked around, making sure nobody was around. She wrapped her hands around his left hand, her bright red shield keeping them a fraction of an inch apart. She sighed, knowing that her chance to give him a proper goodbye were over.

"Thanks Bridge, for being there," She softly began to say as she softly ran her fingers over his hand. "for standing up for me, and for believing in me when I didn't believe in myself. You've given me courage to move forwards in life, and I thank you for that. I wanna thank you for making me feel human for the first time in my life; for my first kiss, and for my first real embrace." She blushed slightly at the short memories, then continued onwards. "In this life or another, we'll meet again, I promise. I promise that we'll both be perfectly normal human beings and we'll get to live together like everybody else does, and there will be no shields - emotional, mental, or physical - to make us unable to show how we feel. I know you like me, and I feel that way too. But I can't stay. I've caused you too much pain. I've caused the entire B Squad too much pain. I have to do what I feel is right, even if nobody supports me. I'm sorry." Stella laid a soft kiss upon his forehead, then turned to leave. She then stopped, took the note out of her pocket, and set it on the nightstand before leaving for the lab.

ACTER greeted her as she entered, and Stella replied with a smile.

"I'm going, ACTER." Stella said with a hint of joy in her voice.

"But…but…why?"

"I must do what is right…you can stay here and work for the B Squad just as I programmed you to do."

"But…I can't let you go without doing something for you in return!"

Stella smiled. She knew ACTER wouldn't give up until it did something for her. She thought the whole thing over, then an idea bubbled up to the surface. She gasped as the brilliant idea flashed in her mind. She ran for a spare parts drawer as she began to shout. "Just give me three hours and you will give me the best assistance you can give me!"

"Oh glee!" ACTER said as Stella began to tinker around with various combinations of wires.

Back in the infirmary, Z walked in to check up on Bridge. Kat was standing, looking at a piece of paper, turning it about as if hoping to find a hidden image.

"What's that?" Z asked.

"It looks like Sky's handwriting…" She handed it to Z, hoping that she'd be able to make sense out of it.

_You are cordially invited to a tea party at the Sacred House tomorrow at dawn. You may not bring a Ranger friend along, or instant removal is guaranteed. Perhaps a little heart-to-heart talk can commence between us, and I'm sure that we can make this a lovely reunion, just the three of us. I hope to see you soon._

Z stared at the note and began to wonder if it was the one Mordom gave Stella. She didn't think Sky would address Bridge in the same manner; she didn't think that they were on that level of friendship, even though they had been friends for years. It made her question Sky and Stella's relationship a bit as well; were they once in love? The letter sounded too personal and caring to have gone to just a friend.

"Do you have any clue what the 'Sacred House' is?" Kat asked, hoping that Z's time on the streets would give her some sort of access to code names of buildings.

"Well, it could be a church of some sort…but I've never heard of a building referred to by the name 'Sacred House' before…you want me to ask around?"

"If you can find out anything, let me know." Kat said as she turned around to study the machines scanning Bridge's vitals.

"Okay." Z walked out and walked to the Commons Room. Five minutes later, she arrived to find Jack and Syd watching the video chip over, this time not skipping over the performance.

"Sky could've been a pop star with his voice," Syd began as Z sat next to her. "he could have even been more famous than me."

"Sky? A famous pop star?" Jack had to restrain a fit of laughter while questioning Syd's statement. "As if his ego wasn't big enough already…"

"Well, look who's talking." Z replied, flashing Jack a playful look.

"I am not egotistical!" Jack defended.

"Yeah, and I'm not blonde." Syd replied. Z and Jack looked at her, which made her squirm in her chair. "…So I use only a bit of bleach…" They looked away. "It's not that much!"

An awkward tension filled the room for a moment, then Z broke the silence to ask about the note. "Have either of you ever heard of a building called the 'Sacred House'?"

"The 'Sacred House'? I've heard of the Sacred Heart Church down on Main Street…but I don't think that's what you're asking about."

"Well, what's the context?"

"Kat found a note written by Sky on the nightstand next to Bridge's bed…bit I think Corona left it there for him to see, because if not, it's just a bit awkward-"

"Oh, I gotta see this!" Jack said, pulling the note out of Z's hand. He smoothed it out, cleared his throat, and began to read it aloud.

"Let's see here…'You are cordially invited to a tea party'…well, sounds normal enough, I guess. Does Sky drink tea?"

"I didn't know Sky even ate anything at all." Z joked.

"Ha. Okay… '…a tea party at the Sacred House tomorrow at dawn.' So this place is a building, possibly called the Sacred House. So whomever the note was going to knows what the place is. Got that. 'You may not bring a Ranger friend along, or instant removal is guaranteed.' Well, if we're considered friends of Corona-"

"Didn't Bridge call her Stella earlier?" Syd asked as the thought crossed her mind.

"Huh?" Z questioned. She remembered Bridge shouting the name earlier, but she had dismissed it as a fleeting thought racing through Bridge's mind in a time of crisis. However, Bridge wasn't one to make mistakes when he was sure of things.

"When she ran in the room, didn't he shout the name Stella?" Syd added to her previous comment.

"Why does this matter? You wanna figure out this letter or not?" Jack shot in. Both of the girls looked at Jack with displeased looks. "Fine, go on with your thing."

"Well Jack, don't you think that Bridge calling somebody he's spent a lot of time around lately by the wrong name seems a bit out of touch? Do you think it's possible that she lied about her name?"

"Well, Sky was called Nova in the video clips, so it's possible that her name is Stella. I'm more concerned about this letter and whatever juicy details we can get out of it."

"Ugh. Doesn't it interest you as to why, even after she left the ship, she kept the name?" Z asked.

"We can talk about it afterwards, okay?" The girls nodded. Jack then began to read the note once more. "'Perhaps a little heart-to-heart talk can commence between us…' ooh! How out-of-character that is for Sky…"

"If it's supposed to be for Bridge, it's all icky." Syd commented.

"Hey, if it's for him, then it's cute." Z replied.

"…'and I'm sure that we can make this a lovely reunion…', a cute little lover's spat! How juicy and blackmail-worthy! If it's Bridge, we're learning how to unlock that door and embarrass the hell out of them."

"Jack!" Syd shouted. "That's disgusting!"

"Oh Syd, it's the 2020's. It's totally normal for roommates to have above-friendship levels with each other." Z said, poking Syd in the arm gently.

"But it doesn't mean that it's still not gross." Syd replied.

"Ugh, get over it!" Z said. "Jack, finish it up."

"Well, that ruins it." Jack said. "He mentions a third party."

"…Ménage à trois?" Z replied with a slick grin.

"Ugh!" Syd got up and left.

"Well, whatever. We're still no closer to figuring out this damn thing." Jack said, turning the movie off. "I wish that some one could figure this out for us…"

"Me too, but it's late. We should head to bed."

"But I just woke up…" Jack whined.

"Go back to bed."

The next morning arrived, and Stella was long gone and approaching the meeting spot. She walked past the multitude of long-gone heroes, warriors, mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters. The wrought iron gate she had left open was now being bolted shut by Krybots as she walked down the lane, to the building surrounded by beautiful oak and willow trees. A pair of figures were camped out in front of the marble structure, apparently having a tea party with real cookies and tea. Stella brushed her black SPD cadet's uniform off, making sure that everything was just perfect. If anything was going to go down, she wanted to be prepared.

Sky was wearing a red and black body suit with a silver sleeveless cloak; his eyes cold and heartless, and his hair appearing to have been drawn straight up in a multitude of directions. The dark rings around his eyes made the irises look almost white and turned his face paler than before. The slashes from before were gone, but the presence of Mordom could be seen throughout.

Sky's companion Mora had opted to wear her hair up in small buns and to wear her lacy black dress that she loved so much. Beside her sat Cindy Sunshine, who was dressed in a freshly washed yellow dress for the occasion. Mora was the one to notice Stella.

"Good morning, Miss Stella…we've been waiting for you …" Mora said softly. Her voice was smooth and cool, but a lurking tone of demise for all who heard it seemed to slither into it.

"Good morning…" Stella replied back in a snippy tone. She hated it when people who weren't close to her called her by her real name.

"You want some tea?" Sky asked, picking up the pot.

Stella knew that she was stepping into a trap, but she wanted to try and be as diplomatic as possible. "Of course."

Z awoke sharply as the sun began to rise. She leaped out of bed, quickly did her morning bathing rituals, then practically tossed her uniform on. She ran down to the lab, hoping that Stella was still around.

"Stella…?" She called out, getting no response. She noticed that RIC was sitting next to her desk, waiting for her. Z bent down and began to stroke the top of RIC's head.

"Where's Stella, RIC?" Z asked the robotic canine. RIC just turned her head, unsure of what she asked. Z frowned; obviously RIC didn't know who that was. Kat scared Z by tapping her on the shoulder. Z stood upright and faced her.

"Are you looking for something, Officer Delgado?"

"Where is she?" Z asked.

"She hasn't come in yet. Have you found out what the letter means?"

"We're not a step closer to figuring it out."

"Well, the note was addressed for today."

"We know that, but nobody knows where this place is, or even what it is!"

"This is not good…" Kat said with a frown. Kat walked to her desk, and both Z and RIC followed her. "Doggie's not gonna like the news…"

"…So I take it she left…?" A meek voice called from the doorway. Kat, Z, and RIC looked up to see Bridge. Z sighed and nodded. "I guess my dream was a premonition…" Bridge gave a look suggesting that he was torn up by his last statement. He turned to leave, but Z walked over and stopped him.

"Bridge…do you know anything about this note?" Z handed the note over to Bridge.

"I've never seen it before…was this the one Mordom gave Stella?" Bridge asked as he took the note.

"Oh, so her name really is Stella?"

"Well, that's what Cruger called her, and that's what she told me it is, so it has to be right." Bridge replied. He then began studying the note intently. "Interesting…"

Back at the Sacred House, Mora was about to leave as Stella arrived.

"You two have fun now, okay? Cindy Sunshine and I are going to gather up our friends to send them later."

"Have fun!" Sky replied in a cheery tone. Mora teleported back to the Terror Spacecraft, and Stella sat down where Mora had been sitting. Stella looked down and grabbed a ladyfinger to nibble on. She was well aware that anything could happen in her current situation, but she was concerned that Mordom hadn't attempted to make a move. She poured herself some tea, then stared at it, hoping that if there was poison in it, that she could make it visible.

"It's orange pekoe." Mordom said politely. "Do you need some sugar?" Stella didn't respond; she was thinking of how she could get her own conversation going. After a few seconds, she looked up.

"Why do you hate me?"

"Child, I don't hate you! I just want what's best for you. You're squandering your meaningful life working for SPD. You could rule the galaxy as a top general in Grumm's army, yet you waste your time repairing weapons and Zords for the puny SPD!" Mordom replied.

Stella sighed. The wrong listener replied. She decided to ask later.

Back at the SPD Base, Bridge was sitting in a lab chair, spinning about as he read. Jack and Syd had joined in, and Boom was paying more attention to Bridge's nausea-inducing spinning than on what Kat had asked him to do.

"A…'Sacred House'…" Bridge said. A flash of one of Stella's memories raced across his mind; the image of the boy at the funeral. He suddenly stopped spinning and got up, promptly doing a headstand, hoping that the boy would come back to his mind. Why had he shown up, anyways? After less than ten seconds in the headstand position, the memory came back.

"_Stella, turn around." A voice called up from above. Stella only wanted to stare at the boy who was staring up at the stars._

"_Schuyler…? Are we going to be alone now…?" Stella asked. The boy looked at Stella with a cold look on his face. "We're never alone, Stella. We have each other, and we have our friends and the stars…the stars look over us…he's up there watching us…" Stella smiled at watch as the coffin carriers sealed the mausoleum up. "This is a sacred place now, Stella…"_

"_Sacred?"_

"_If we're ever alone or scared, we come here, got it?" Sky's voice was serious, even in his young age._

"_Of course. This is a sacred house now…"_

"Of course!" Bridge said as he came out of the headstand. "A mausoleum!"

"Mausoleum?" Kat asked. Bridge's comment seemed completely out of the blue.

"Well, the meaning of the phrase has to be known by both people to some extent, right?" Bridge asked, his hands beginning to take the trip of explanation that they shared with both Bridge's mouth and brain. The group knew that he was onto something.

"Yeah, or else it's meaningless." Kat replied.

"So you have to think of a house that would be considered sacred to Sky as well as Stella. Since we know so little about Stella, you gotta then think of the things Sky reveres."

"Okay…" Z commented.

"Well?"

"You want us to think about it?" Syd asked. Bridge sighed.

"One thing he reveres the most is his father, right? Now, his father's died and moved on, and they put his body in a mausoleum."

"How would you know this?" Kat asked.

"Long story." Bridge quickly brushed it aside and continued with his explanation. "Now, a mausoleum is a building that houses the dead, right? So it could be considered a house. If somebody very important is in it, then it could be considered a sacred house. End of story."

"But what I don't get is how you knew all of this." Kat asked.

"Well…" Bridge started becoming nervous. "When the accident happened, my powers must have reached deep inside her subconscious, diving for whatever it could. I have a few of her stronger memories in my head, and from what I've seen, she could have a few of mine."

"Oh, that's great." Syd said. "I can only imagine the thoughts of hers you've got up there."

"Actually, We broke the link pretty quickly, so probably not much more than what I know about."

"You wouldn't mind if I ran some tests on you later, would you?"

"Of course not." Bridge replied.

"But we have to go-" Suddenly, the energy monitor on Kat's desk began to screech, indicating that an energy surge was occurring. She looked down and gasped.

"A massive Troobian energy surge…at the Memorial Cemetery." Syd, jack and Z looked at Bridge in awe.

"Well, what can I say? When you're right, you're right." Bridge shrugged as he reached for his morpher.

Back in the cemetery, Mordom had grown tired of waiting. He smiled and began to sip his cup of tea. "Can I confidently say that you shall be joining us back to Grumm's flagship?"

"No." Stella confidently replied. Mordom set the cup down.

"Then I guess you give me no choice." He fired a shot straight at Stella, knocking her roughly thirty yards backwards.

If she hadn't have anticipated the attack, she would've literally lost her head. Her shield all but diminished from the blast, but it was still functioning enough for Stella to use her shield spike. She quickly sprung to her feet, feeling within her a second sense of the entire situation beyond her own. She charged forward, shield spike prepared and ready to strike. She took charge and bounded through the picnic set, taking a quick swipe at Mordom as she came close. The attack was blocked and countered by Mordom grabbing her wrist. Her immediate reaction conflicted; she initially tried to pull away, but she then opted to windmill out of the move and reply with a shove. This way of fighting was completely hopeless; she dropped her blade and clenched her right fist, producing a blinding white light. She then took a new fighting position and began to charge once more.

She whipped out a roundhouse kick, followed by a leg sweep. Mordom was taken aback by the sudden switch in fighting style; Stella had almost never resorted to kicks before. A clean right hook was next in order, which took both Sky and Mordom by surprise this time around. Mordom drew up Sky's shield and began to shield bash Stella with it, sending sparks flying around the field. Stella took several steps back, then changed her style once more. She backed up and made a running jump over Sky's shield, gripping her right hand and firing off a light blast once again. While Mordom was distracted by the light, Stella grabbed had landed behind him, grabbing his waist and tossing him to the ground. As he got up, she used the light blast once more, then soccer kicked him in the head several times. "Stay down!" she shouted as she quickly took a position in front of the mausoleum. Mordom growled as he whipped out several shurikens and tossed them at Stella.

The Rangers arrived just as Stella began to kick Mordom while he was on the ground.

"Stay right where you are!" Syd said, firing off her Striker at the large crowd and striking several Krybots.

"That's right! We're not letting you crash the tea party!" Z commented, Following Syd's lead and unloading several shots into the crowd.

"This is not your place anyways!" Bridge added, firing at the lock on the gate door and shattering it. The Krybots were more focused on destroying the Rangers than going in, so they didn't notice.

"It's time for us to get rid of you guys!" Jack finished off the dialogue with several quick shots from his Delta Blasters and picking off several more Krybots.

Bridge spotted Stella being struck by the shurikens; the sparks flew through the air as she was picked up off the ground by the impact. "Guys! Stella's in trouble!"

"Well, so are we! There's a lot of Krybots here!" Z said, firing off several more shots and taking out a few more Krybots. It seemed as if every time one Krybot fell, three replaced it. Bridge pulled back over to the Delta Cruiser and hopped in the back. Jack quickly put the Patrol Cycles in a safe place before joining Bridge.

"What do you girls say we turn this dilapidated old buggy into a rolling vehicle of Krybot doom?" Bridge commented.

"Sounds good to me!" Z said, revving up the engine and backing up. The Krybots that began closing in were quickly picked off by the combined laser blasts. As they drove forward, the previously gunned down Krybots were crushed under the wheels; both the pistols and the front end of the Cruiser mowed down the Krybots behind them. The Cruiser slammed into the gates, knocking the doors down just as Bridge spotted a truly horrifying sight.

Mordom fired off a final blast as Stella had finished removing the shurikens from her body. She didn't have the time to defend herself, and the blast forced a river of sparks to erupt from her. She shrieked as she was sent flying through the mausoleum door, drawing a smile across Sky's face.

"Well well, it seems like I finally won." Mordom said with a pleased tone in his voice.

"Stella!" Bridge screamed as he leaped out of the cruiser. Z stopped the cruiser and followed up after him on foot. Syd and Jack joined Z. The remaining Krybots were catching up to them now that they were on foot, but nobody seemed to notice.


	14. The Students Of The Assassin

Inside the mausoleum, a figure stood against the wall, mere inches from the doorframe. A sigh fell from the figure's lips; today was going to be a long day.

_Do I run or do I fight? Can I afford to run now, really? I'm cornered so I have to stay…but I can't fight. I'll end up dying; I'm definitely not strong enough to win. But can I afford to just go and restart my life…? Can I afford to let Mordom run free and hurt the only people who care about me even more than he already has? Can I do what is right, even if it means my life?_

The figure looked up to the casket above her and smiled. "Ya know, I never came here to visit. Can you forgive me? I'm sure Sky visits you all the time. Me…I'm too stubborn to admit that I'm scared and alone. Well, I'm not really alone any more…am I?" She flipped the small device in her left hand. "Should I do it? Would you help me if I did?" A slight breeze whipped around the empty mausoleum, tussling her short dirty blonde locks. "I knew you'd say that. You would say that no matter what."

"Get away from there!" Bridge screamed, firing shots off at Mordom. Two shots struck the monster in the back, but it didn't even seem to faze him.

"Oh, but I must inspect my kill…" Mordom snickered. As he approached the door, however, a fist came flying out from the right side of the doorframe, leaving him momentarily stunned. A glove went flying through the air as Stella slid in front of the doorframe and roundhouse kicked Mordom flat on his ass.

"What the…? You're supposed to be dead!" Mordom shouted. Bridge stopped, causing the others to stop at his side.

"Dad said he didn't want any visitors." Stella snarled. Mordom's reply came wrapped in a furious growl.

"She's alive! That's incredible!" Bridge shouted with glee as he looked over at his teammates.

"Uh oh. Guys…we didn't get all the Krybots…" Z said as he turned around to see what the bustle behind them was all about.

"Let's hold them off while Stella continues her fight with…well, whoever or whatever she's fighting." Syd replied. They quickly charged the Krybots, batons and blasters drawn.

"I'm so sick of running from you! You destroyed my life! You took me away from the things that mattered! You took away the things that mattered to me! I don't fear anything now! I only care about destroying you!" Stella shouted.

"My, my, what conviction you have…is your bite as strong as your bark?"

"Yes it is. I've got just two words to back that up, too."

"And what would those words be?"

Stella drew the morpher that she had stashed in her jacket pocket out and proceeded to shout "SPD! Emergency!"

The shining projection of the blue ranger's uniform shone in front of her. Stella did a quick backflip as the projection flew towards her. She landed on her feet and was flung back a bit. As she hit the ground on her hands, she did a crouching backflip, ending in a crouching position and guarding her face with her left arm. She then dropped her arm as the helmet attached itself at the sides of her head as it came together. She stood up and took a dramatic pose, finishing off the transformation. "SPD Blue!"

"You…you…"

"Stole it from you? Why, of course! I couldn't let you have it now, could I? Besides, the last Blue Ranger said that criminals are always criminals, no matter how long they go without committing a crime. I might as well live up to that standard." Stella snickered. She pulled out the D-Baton and began to shift it to Deltamax Striker mode, making it much more like her shield spike. She then spun it around and held it like a dagger and charged at Mordom. She took several jabs at Mordom, only to receive a swift and heavy punch to the chest.

"If you can morph, then so can I…" Mordom snarled as he tossed off his coat and flung several smoke grenades around himself. When the smoke cleared thirty seconds later, a dramatically different figure stood before Stella. A black armor that resembled a scarab beetle wearing a ninja suit, his left arm was equipped with a heavy laser cannon, and a large helmet his any remains of humanity in Sky's face and replaced it with a twisted version of Mordom's true face. Sky's soulless blue eyes shone through the mask, reminding Stella exactly what she was fighting for. She attached the D-Baton to the Striker's holster and fired off several rounds as she bounded up a willow tree. They seemed to only minimally faze the tank of a being.

"Were those supposed to hurt me, Stella?" Mordom called out. His voice had also become melded with Sky's, making it hard to tell that the two weren't always the same person. She fired off several more shots as Mordom walked towards the tree's base, and it was only the last shot that even moved the creature.

"So, trying to stop me, are you? I'm afraid that nothing will save you, Stella…" Mordom mocked. Stella continued to fire of shots, hitting her target every time. Mordom was slightly affected by them, but not enough to stop. He was now feeling the shots connect with the armor as she slowly chipped away at it; she wouldn't ever fully take out the armor with such a weak pistol, however. Mordom's natural armor was strong as it was, but while reinforced by Sky's natural shield, it was nearly indestructible.

Mordom finally stopped at the base of the tree and charged up his cannon to emit a high-intensity laser beam. The beam was fired straight into the base of the tree, which set the tree ablaze. Stella then leaped into the tree next to the flaming one, focusing and unloading several more shots to Mordom's left side. She struck the cannon in three separate places, causing sparks to erupt from it.

"Ah, you crazy bitch! You'll pay for that!" Mordom cried out. He aimed his laser cannon at the new tree and fired, causing not only the high-intensity laser to shoot out of the nozzle, but sparks to shoot out of the shattered parts of the cannon as well. "Argh!" He cried out, holding one of the sparking parts of his cannon.

Stella ran through the first tree's flaming branches and curled up in the tree to its left, making sure that Mordom thought she was in the other tree. She noticed that the weakest part of his armor lay in an area in the low center of his back, presumably since most people couldn't survive long enough to ever get to it. She unloaded three shots at it, sending sparks flying out of it.

"How did you…? Ugh!" Mordom dropped to his knees and tried to recover. Stella took a breather and noticed that one of the flaming branches was snapping. She aimed a shot at it and it connected with Mordom just as he was looking upwards. The tree branch tossed burning embers in his face, temporarily blinding him while burning away at the armor.

Stella was amazed at her luck so far; she wasn't ever a good marksman as part of the Marauders, but as soon as she held the Striker in her hand, she felt a rush of experience flow through her. She jumped down out of the last tree and smiled at her victory. She kicked the tree branch away at the cowering symbiote that was once Sky and aimed the Striker at his head.

"You're done!" Stella shouted.

"Think again!" Mordom shouted, changing back to his pulse blast and firing at Stella at point blank range. She shrieked as she flew backwards and demorphed. She landed flat on her back and was knocked senseless on impact. As she was recovering, Mordom slowly stood up and brushed the ashes out of his eyes, trying to fully regain his sight before finishing his job.

Mordom slowly got up and walked over to Stella's side, deciding that picking her up by her throat was the best option. Stella's shield had been taken out once more, and she was completely vulnerable to whatever Mordom decided to do to her. Stella's only defense to being choked was to mildly resist by flailing about, but it was futile in her weakened state. Mordom grinned and hurled her against the mausoleum's marble walls. Stella whimpered as she received a concussion and a cracked pair of ribs. She slid down the wall and tried to breathe.

The other Rangers had been fighting off the swarm of Krybots, and the fight for them was dying down. Jack combined his Delta Blasters and took out the remaining Krybots that were left. The four of them were much too tired to help Stella; Bridge was so worn out that he collapsed to the ground and demorphed. Z demorphed and lied down next to him.

"You okay?" Z asked.

"I feel like I've been completely separated from myself…like my entire body's been drained…"

"I know how ya feel…we've all been taken apart these last few days…" Syd replied. She gasped as Stella hit the mausoleum wall. "Oh my!"

"Guys, can we pull ourselves together for a few moments and help Stella out?" Jack asked, catching his breath.

"It looks like she needs our help, regardless of whether we can give it…" Z commented. She got to her feet and helped Bridge up and over to the Delta Cruiser. Jack and Syd followed them. "Let's make one final run, then hope for the best." They slowly got into the Cruiser as Mordom picked her up once more. They drew their sidearm pistols as Z revved the engine and blazed forward. They all trained their shots on Mordom then peppered him with repeated laser beams. Several shots hit him in the face, four shots hit him in the arm, and three hit him in the back. Mordom dropped Stella, allowing her to breathe. Z quickly stopped the cruiser and they all hopped out.

"Stop right there!" Jack called out.

"Leave our friend alone!" Bridge said.

"Guys, you don't have to…" Stella said as she got to her feet. "This is my fight."

"Fine…" Bridge sighed, standing at ease. The other rangers lowered their weapons as well.

"Oh, you two are so adorable. I think I'm gonna vomit." Mordom commented as she finally shook off the effects of the lasers. Stella smiled as she charged up her shield spike. She knew she didn't have the strength to sustain her entire shield, but she was certain that she could take whatever he dished out. She swung at Mordom several times, dragging her spike across his armor and kicking sparks up. Bridge decided to call the fire department to keep the trees from burning up any more than they already were; three more trees had caught on fire in the last two minutes. Stella missed a golden opportunity to strike and Mordom slammed his arm cannon against her face, knocking her down to the ground.

"I've had enough of this. It ends now!" Mordom said as he pointed the cannon straight at her head. A simmer in Sky's eyes suggested a secondary lapse of consciousness. Stella saw a chance to appeal to Sky's morality.

"Sky! Stop this!" Stella shouted. "You're not a killer! You don't want to do this to anybody! You're a well-respected Ranger! Do you wanna live with my death on your hands?" Mordom continued to stare down at her, trying with all his might to fire off the kill shot.

Sky admitted defeat. This wasn't at all what he wanted. Stella was right for once; he wasn't a killer and he didn't want her death on his hands. He just wanted closure in his life; he wanted everything to be as it was, as it should be. He owed her one, and this moment was the best time to pay it forward. With every ounce of strength he had left, he forced his left arm several inches to the left just as Mordom fired, giving Stella less than an inch of space between life and death.

Stella saw the new opportunity, got up, forced herself to flank Mordom and cut a long and deep arc through Mordom's back. She drove through the point of sparking; clear fluid from the carapace mixed with Sky's blood and splattered everywhere within a six foot arc. Nerves were severed, veins and capillaries broke apart, muscles tore loose from each other, and vertebrae shattered underneath the sheer force of Stella's shield spike. The fluids sprayed all over her, covering her in a mist of red fury. The crimson shined brightly as the morning sun began to peak over the treetops, illuminating the true horrors of the scene. The four B Squad members gasped in horror and began to run over to the scene.

The morning sun was the last thing Sky saw as he fell backwards into Stella's arms. He smiled, knowing that he had finally paid Stella back after so many years of trying hard to forget her. Mordom released Sky from his hold, as Sky was completely useless to him now. The other Rangers stood in front of Stella and Sky, forming a human shield.

"Lemme help finish this." Stella said as she whipped out Sky's morpher, shifting Sky to her left arm and shoulder, allowing her to use the morpher in her right hand. "You have been accused of fraudulent and criminal acts, including impersonation of an SPD officer, aggravated assault against numerous SPD officers, and the numerous deaths and attempted murders of SPD operatives and allies of SPD. Judgement!" The X and O went back and forth, assessing Mordom's innocence and guilt. Everyone there knew how it would end, though. The red X shone brightly as it stopped judging. "Guilty!"

"Ack…just destroy me, girl. Show me no mercy…" Mordom begged. Stella bent down as the others began to morph and laid Sky gently against the dew-moistened grass. She smiled, ruffled his hair a bit, then morphed with the rest of the group.

"Well, as you know, Sky is very smart. He knew long ago, and he told me long ago, that the Tantalus wasn't truly SPD. Back then, I didn't want to believe him, but now I do. The Tantalus was about revenge, deceit, a lack of personal honor; SPD is about justice, honor, and mercy. Mercy is just what we at SPD do. Mercy is all you'll get." Stella smiled as the Rangers summoned up the Canine Cannon. Stella stood at the head of the weapon as they fired it at the enraged Mordom. He was quickly confined in a card, which Jack walked over to get the card as the other Rangers began to speculate what to do with Sky.

"There's a hospital up at the hill. They don't have the top notch technology that SPD Headquarters has-" Syd began to state as she demorphed.

"If we waste our time bringing Sky back to HQ, there won't be a reason to bring him to the infirmary. We might as well drag him downstairs if we do." Stella commented, referring to the widely-feared morgue area down in the basement of the base. "I'm commandeering your cruiser."

"I'll drive." Bridge instantly volunteered. "I'd hate for you to have to go alone."

"I'll join you two." Syd said after Z nudged her. Nobody wanted Bridge and Stella to be alone anywhere in public.

"Fine. Somebody start the cruiser up and somebody help me pick Sky up." Syd helped carry Sky as Bridge started up the Cruiser. It was obvious that he wasn't too keen on driving stick shift, so Syd switched seats with him for the ride.

Less then five minutes later, Syd began flagging down emergency units in the hospital. Syd, Bridge, and Stella helped the doctors to lift Sky onto a stretcher, and they watched the doctors cart him off, forcing them to stay behind. Visitors weren't allowed in the E.R., so they were forced to sit in the waiting room.

Bridge sat between Syd and Stella, who were both looking down at the ground. Bridge worried that if he attempted to cheer them up, that it would just backfire.

"Are either of you hungry?" Bridge asked. They both looked at him as if he had completely lost whatever of his mind he hadn't already lost. "Well, I found that bad moods can be eliminated with french fries and some ketchup most of the time, and we passed a burger joint on the way here." Stella punched him in the arm and teared up. Syd grabbed the steel back of the chair and changed her fist to its composition. "Uh oh." Syd then smashed her fist into the chair and began to cry. She changed her fist back as Stella and Bridge wrapped their arms around her in a joint embrace.

"Syd, he'll be okay…"Bridge said.

"I promise he'll be okay. We got here really fast, and I didn't inflict a fatal wound…he'll be okay…"

"It's so unfair!" Syd shouted as she fell into a crying fit. Bridge and Stella felt insignificant for the moment, but realized that there was absolutely nothing they could do.


	15. Colors

Jack and Z arrived back at the base, trying their best to piece together what had just happened within the last hour; a fight of epic proportions had erupted in a graveyard, Stella used Sky's morpher against him, the rest of the B Squad plowed down a small army's worth of Krybots, they caught the bad guy, and they were returning back to base with nothing more than a lack of energy to show for it. Somehow, it didn't feel like SPD triumphed. They were returning home without Sky. They were returning without any sort of morale. Z felt like crawling in bed and never coming out until Sky peeled the sheets off of her and started spewing some stupid textbook jargon about how she should be doing her job. Jack hated the fact that Sky wasn't bragging about how good he fought and how 'by the book' he managed to be as he stood annoying close to Jack. Jack had gotten used to it ever since Cruger had knocked him down a few pegs during his ego trip, and not hearing it left an eerie silence. They could only imagine how Syd, Stella and Bridge were taking it. They knew that the others were closer to Sky on varying degrees; they would take all of this much harder than Jack and Z were. The Command Center was cold and quiet as they walked in, just the two of them.

"Where are the others?" Cruger asked, puzzled. Jack placed the capture card on Cruger's desk silently, trying to avoid talking. "Why are you two the only ones here?"

Z avoided talking, because she knew that she would only start babbling and eventually collapse in a weeping heap. Jack walked to Z and dismissed her, then turned back to face Cruger.

"Where is Officer Delgado going?" Cruger demanded.

"Sir…I can offer a complete explanation if you give me the time."

"Take all the time you want. I want a full explanation for this." Cruger had lost his patience.

"Well, sir…Stella and Sky were fighting…and…she hit him really hard, sir…she said that the trip back here would be a waste of time…Bridge and Syd accompanied Stella to help with carrying Sky in…"

Cruger dismissed Jack as Jack's words began to trail off. "You and Officer Delgado may visit if you wish."

"Sure…" Jack mumbled as he walked out.

Back at the hospital, Syd was slowly crying herself to sleep. Stella's shield was perfect for Syd to cry on; it prevented the snot and tears from getting on Stella's already blood-soaked clothes, and it was solid, smooth, and immobile, which completely beat out a pillow as the prime object to squeeze in a tear-laden moment. After a while, Syd lulled herself to sleep in Stella's arms, and the nurses helped her set up a small sleeping area for Syd to sleep her sorrows off. Bridge decided to take a walk after the nurses took their jackets from them to help clean the blood off them; he wanted to clear his mind. Stella had to give up her pants as well, and the nurses gladly have her a pair of light blue slacks to replace them. She stood in the bathroom as she changed and washed the blood off of her body. She stared at her reflection in the mirror as she sloshed water on her cheeks. She found herself staring deep into the reflection of her eyes; she hoped she could see into her soul and find out what she was doing with the life her friends had given her. She took the morpher that was sitting on the sink and began to stare at it, wondering if she had done the right thing. She held back a laugh; she was sure that Sky would be ungrateful and as soon as he came to, he'd bark about everything she had done wrong. She felt worthless in her actions, unworthy to be in contact with the morpher in her hand. She felt like she had done the wrong thing, and that her mistake was going to cost Sky his life. She had dove pretty deep into him, after all. They had rushed him to the ER…what had she done? She slammed her fist against the mirror, cracking it slightly. She lied her head against one of the cracked lines in the mirror and began to cry. She wasn't aware that Bridge had been standing outside the door, picking up her thoughts unwillingly while waiting for her.

Bridge had then decided upon slinking down to the gift shop while waiting for his jacket. Stella needed some time alone and waiting for Syd to wake up would be a long time coming. He gained a sense of freedom and exploration as he roamed the hall; he had never been in Newtech City's hospital before; his father was a doctor and he was never far away from a diagnosis of what was ailing him. He gained solace in the fact that his training shirt seemed to be warding people off; people saw the SPD logo and automatically thought trouble was in the area. The gift shop was brightly lit and after he had been walking for about ten minutes, he was happy to see it. Bridge entered silently, making note of the soft tunes the floated around the store's interior.

After a few moments of browsing, Bridge found himself staring into a giant case of flowers from various galaxies. The first ones that caught his eyes were green ones that looked like ornately crafted glass butterflies. He had never seen them before, but he had seen them in his sleep during one of Stella's memories. The flower didn't wilt, but the petal detached and floated away in the breeze. It was one of several types of flowers he knew from her memories; she seemed to have a thing for remembering exotic flowers. Another flower that came to mind was the red-and-blue petalled flowers that resembled an overgrown rose. The first comparison that came to mind was Stella's toast whenever he saw them. It felt odd to Bridge to see something in real life for the first time and feel like he had already been in contact with it. He sighed, and eyed the price tags of the flowers.

"Can I help you?" A voice called out from behind him. Bridge turned around to see a young woman with long white hair and purple eyes; she looked incredibly familiar.

"Yeah. I'd like to buy some of these flowers for a friend."

The woman smiled. "Boy or girl?" She asked as she rummaged through a drawer for the keys to the flower case.

"Girl."

"Then I recommend the-"

"Green butterfly flowers?"

"How'd you-"

"I'm a psychic. I can read minds."

"I see." She opened the case silently, wary of the fact that he was SPD. "So, what's the lucky girl's name?"

"Corona." She stopped halfway through opening the case. "Or is it Stella? I can't remember…but she is a very sweet girl, nonetheless…"

"…I see."

"Would you happen to know her? She's my height, dirty blonde hair, radiant ice blue eyes, nice smile…"

"What do you want from me?" She said, slamming the case shut and turning to face him.

"Would you like to meet her? I'm sure she could use some old friends."

"What happened…?"

"She's just having a rough time."

"…Is that all you wanted?"

"No, I'd like those green flowers…oh! And a few pink carnations, too, but separate from the green ones."

"They're on me…lemme wrap them up for you." The woman said as she reopened the flower case. "Call me Floia."

"You'd be Omega, right?"

"Mhm." Floia smiled as she took the flowers out of the case. "So, how did you find out? Did you guys arrest her or something? What law did she break?"

"She was caught before my time, but she's been working for SPD as a mechanic. Her and I have apparently worked on several different projects on different levels. She's pretty good." Floia shut the case door and smiled.

"Yeah, she was rebuilding engines and building little scrap heap robots for us to smash when we were bored. We honed our skills because of her…"

"Yeah, she's really good. She's a better fighter than the rest of us. We've tried to convince her to be a Ranger, but she won't have it."

"Oh no…she always said that Nova would be a Ranger…she never wanted to be a hero." She walked back over to the cashier stand and began to wrap up the green flowers delicately in blue and pink papers. "She wanted to be the sidekick. She wanted to be alive in the end. She hated being on the front lines of anything. She loved watching Nova being in the front…" She tied a green bow around the green flowers, then went to work with the carnations. "I'm glad she's safe now…" She stopped and looked up. "Wait…is she okay…?"

"She's okay, but…" Bridge bit his lip.

"…Nova…?"

Bridge could do nothing but frown.

"No wonder she's distraught…here…" Floia went back to the case and took a few of the blue and red roses. "These're all on me, and you don't need to pay me back. You're SPD; you have the most infamous payroll in the galaxy." Bridge tried not to laugh; she was right after all. He was lucky that Floia was paying; he had been planning on how he was going to stretch the twenty bucks he had left for the week on both feeding himself and getting the flowers. Floia quickly wrapped up all of the flowers, handing Bridge the multi-colored bouquet. "Now, let's go bring these to the lucky people who're getting them."

Stella left the stall and handed the uniform to the nurse who was waiting. She had cut her hand on the mirror, so the nurse bandaged it up for her. Stella had to focus heavily on dropping her shield; she didn't want to have tests run on her at the moment like when she was young. She got up and smiled, noticing that Jack and Z were now in the waiting room. They noticed that she was wearing a white SPD training tee, and Jack snickered.

"Ah, a wolf in sheep's clothing." Jack joked.

"Yeah, really." Stella smiled, but it quickly turned to a frown as she stared at the doors. Jack and Z looked over and saw a woman standing at the door.

Her long, dark blonde hair was set in a bun; not a hair was outside of it. Her brown eyes seemed to gaze on into eternity, as they also had the quality eyes gained once life had been driven from the body entirely. Her long black dress suggested prudishness, but the warm smile she gave Jack and Z suggested otherwise.

"Ah, fresh faces in SPD. I see that they're welcoming all kinds of recruits these days. Good to hear." Her smile seemed to fade in and out.

Jack instantly took offense to her statement. "Excuse me? 'All kinds of recruits'? What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means the Nazi's surprised that they didn't toss you into the boiler." Stella replied coldly.

The woman turned to face Stella. The tension in the air was almost palpable; the two obviously had a bitter history. "Oh. You're still alive." Stella gave a momentary look of defeat, but then stood up straight, as if to try and convey a sense of superiority.

"That's more than what I can say about your wonder boy who, by the way, let himself get captured."

The woman's eyes narrowed. "You're just like your father; arrogant, overconfident and always doing what benefited him best."

"And your son's just like his mother; rotten, begrudging, egotistical, self-centered, and demanding. What's your point?"

"I think we should leave." Jack said as he gave Z a worried look. Z mimicked his look and stood up. Stella held up her hand to them.

"You two don't have to leave. You can stay."

"Excuse me? You don't address a red ranger as if he is an equal. He outranks you! I'm fairly certain the yellow ranger outranks you too. You're overstepping your boundaries as usual."

"Well, it's good to see where Sky got that stupid shit from."

"Stella, it's okay. We should go and try to see where Bridge went anyways." Z said.

"Yeah, he could've gotten lost in here." Jack added with a nervous chuckle.

Both of them left abruptly, hoping to run into Bridge on the way around.

"You know what? I'm glad I'm like my father. At least I still have a brain that I use on my own."

"You're a fool! You stepped out of line numerous times! You ran away when you were only eight years old and you left me worried so much about you!"

"Worried, my ass. I was your freak! Your scapegoat! Your reason behind everything that was wrong! I am a freak of nature, and nobody can explain anything about me, and that makes me a demon to you! Don't pretend like that isn't the truth! At least Sky was able to hide how much of a freak he was. You hated me because I was, and still am, imperfect."

"I love you nonetheless."

"Bullshit." Stella commented as she glared at the poor woman. "You're a poor excuse for a mother. You didn't care for either of us after dad died, but you figured that you could make Sky replace him. You never cared how we felt. You never cared how I felt! You always stood up for Sky! You never stood up for me!"

"That's a lie! I did everything for both of you! How have you repaid me? You've run away from home, joined a band of intergalactic thieves, and attempted to kill my only son!"

Stella couldn't take it anymore. "Well at least I'm not an alcoholic, chain-smoking, blame-dodging, arrogant, self-centered, frigid bitch like you!"

The woman pulled back and swung at Stella's face with an open palm, only to slam against her shield and get shocked. Stella's face was filled with a seething rage held behind a stone-cold glare. She felt no remorse in the recoil.

The woman gave a hard glare. "You had better not be here tomorrow morning. I don't want to see you again."

"The feeling's mutual." Stella replied. The woman walked out, leaving Stella a chance to bite her lip and tear up.

Jack and Z had been hiding behind the pay phones, waiting for the fight to end. Bridge snuck up behind them and poked Z in the shoulder. She jumped and turned around. She spotted the flowers and blushed.

"Oh! Are those for me?" Z asked, taken aback.

"Actually, no. They're for Syd and Stella. I'm just wondering what you guys're doing out here hiding behind pay phones."

"Oh…there was a fight going on in the waiting room…I guess it's over…" Z replied as she watched the woman leave.

"I'll go see if everything's okay." Bridge said as he walked towards the waiting room entrance.

Stella was leaning against a wall, arms around her waists in a self-hug as she silently cried. She looked up at Bridge, who meekly walked up to her with the flowers. She sniffled and smiled weakly.

"Are these for me?" She asked.

"Yeah."

"You didn't have to."

"You're having a rough morning. The least I could do is try to make you smile a bit. I didn't do very good the first time, did I?"

"Sorry, but getting blood spattered all over you depletes the appetite." She joked. Bridge handed her the flowers, which she cradled in her arms like an infant. "Oh, these flowers…I love these…when I was galaxy surfing, I loved going to Domoria…these flowers grow beautifully there…Sky and I loved these blue and red ones…" She bit her lip, set the flowers down in the chair next to her, then wrapped her arms around his torso and squeezed, lying her head down on his shoulder. "I fucked everything up…"

"Listen, it's okay." Bridge said, gently holding her head with one hand and rubbing her back with the other. "There was no other choice."

"What if he's dead?" She muttered. Bridge couldn't think of a response. He didn't want to think of how to respond. "What if there's nothing they can do? Can everybody forgive me for what I've done?"

"I forgive you. There was nothing else you could have done. Mordom wouldn't have let go willingly; you had to put him in the situation you did. Sky would have done the same for you."

"He would've intentionally killed me to do it."

"No he wouldn't have."

"He hates me."

"No he doesn't. Why didn't he let Mordom kill you?"

"Because it wouldn't tarnished his good name. That's all he was taught to do…stay in line, keep the pace, be the best, never let anything compromise the good boy image…she wanted it from me too…I couldn't deliver. I wanted to live my own life…now I have nobody…" Bridge lifted her head up and gave her a look.

"You have SPD. You have Cruger, Kat, Boom, Syd, Jack, Z, and especially me. You have our undying gratitude and respect. You helped us in our hardest mission so far. If it wasn't for you-"

"If it wasn't for me, none of this would have happened, and Sky wouldn't be lying in bed, barely limping along on the mere inches of life I left him in!"

"You did everything you could, Stella. Mordom wouldn't have come in within any other terms. You had to take Sky out."

"There had to be another way! There was another way!"

"What, then? I didn't see any other way! Sky was long past gone at the point of reasoning. Tell me how you did things wrong, and I'll say you're right."

"I…I don't know…I don't know anymore…"

"Well, I trust your decision. And I don't care what anybody else says."

Stella stared at Bridge, pondering if he had gone completely off his rocker. He smiled, and she realized that he had heard her; she forgot to silently think.

"So I'm crazy, huh?" Bridge asked. "I'm not surprised you think so too."

"I'm just worried…I mean…are you willing to go against your friends for me?"

"I took on Sky to save you, didn't I? I knew I didn't have a chance in that anyways." Bridge replied, never missing a beat.

"Listen…I…I know what this is…what happened before…"

"I know what you're going to say. Can you honestly believe it enough to believe that there was nothing behind it?"

"…I wanted to see what would happen. If I had another heart attack, I didn't care. If I died, Mordom would've gone away."

"No he wouldn't have. He wanted us all dead. I wanted me to kill everybody in SPD. He only wanted to use you. I couldn't let him get to you, because it would have been the end of us all."

Z sighed. "I wonder if they're doing okay…it's gotten quiet."

"Well then, go and check." Jack said. Z smiled and nodded, taking a walk towards the door.

Stella attempted to not think of anything, fearing that Bridge would hear her trying to convince herself that she shouldn't think he was being romantic. Of course, the panic backfired.

"Romantic? Me? You're funny. I'm very unromantic. In fact, most say I'm quite the chicken."

"But you…" Stella sighed. "You've not really been yourself then lately."

"I suppose you're right." Bridge said, with a frown. "I just…I just don't think it's fair for somebody so nice to have such a horrible life. You got the worst hand I've ever seen in the card game of life." Bridge smiled as the line Sky had used many years ago came to mind.

"What about you?"

Bridge pondered her statement for a moment. He then shook his head from side to side as if to dismiss a negative thought. "It could have been worse for me. Yeah, it's rough never having real contact with people, but it's better than none at all…" Bridge then noticed the lack of red light surrounding her; why was her shield down again? Had it gone down again? Better yet, why wasn't he hurting her? Stella looked down, seeing that her shield was, in fact, not working. She pulled away and became a bit worried.

"Why are you pulling away?"

"What if-"

"Oh enough of the 'what if's! It's not like you to question yourself!"

"You're right. It's more like you. You're being more like me."

Bridge realized that she was right; there was still lingering damage between them.

"This isn't good. We can't…" Stella sighed as she stopped herself from talking.

"We can't what? We can't touch?"

"What if there's another accident?"

"You didn't care before. You said it yourself." Stella smiled; she had called her bluff. "Besides, I have to admit that I enjoyed that moment in the infirmary, even though I was terrified." Bridge blushed a bit as he bit his lip.

"You two?" Stella replied, scratching the back of her head nervously.

"You thought my shirt smelled nice. It was nice to know that."

"I thought it was your aftershave."

"It was probably my sweat mixed with my cologne. I don't think I had shaved that morning…" Bridge ran his hand over his jawline, giving a disappointed look. "I could use a shave right now…"

"I think you look fine." Corona said. Bridge took a step forwards, making Corona take a step back, pinning her against the wall and the chair.

"Are you sure I look fine up close?"

"Yeah. You look perfect." Bridge smiled quickly, then stared straight into Stella's eyes.

"You wanna know what else I enjoyed?"

"What?"

"This." Bridge leaned in and softly pressed his lips against Stella's.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes; she half-expected this to be his response. She felt a little awkward; she hadn't expected Bridge to be so sneaky, but then again, nobody ever fully knew what he was thinking the majority of the time. He had wrapped his arms around her back and pulled her closer to him, and the only response she could think of was to wrap her arms around his neck.

Z was shocked by what she walked in on. Bridge…making a first move on Stella? Granted, she knew that Bridge liked Stella and all…but he made a move on her? It made no sense. She wasn't sure what to think; she felt a tad bit bitter, but she was happy that Bridge was happy. It was hard to be happy when you saw something you wanted being swiftly being taken away right in front of you. She looked down, then turned around and walked back to the group.

"So? What's going on?" Jack asked.

"He shut her up." She commented.

"Ah. Interesting." Jack replied. He knew something was up, but he decided to do nothing about it.

Bridge sighed as he broke away from the lip lock. A sense of bliss still ran through him, but a sense of fear howled in the back of his mind. He feared her reaction to his sudden emotional rush. He felt like he was taking advantage of her, but a part of him felt like it was the only way either of them were going to ever get the chance to have this kind of experience again. Stella leaned in and returned the kiss, letting her arms slide down to his waist, stopping softly on his hips. Bridge reached up with one arm and grabbed her shoulder from the back and pulled her back towards him. The world around them seemed to disappear for a moment, and it was just the two of them, experiencing life like neither of them could with anybody else. Stella pulled back suddenly, taking a breath.

"Cruger will chastise us…" Stella remarked as she let go and pushed him a step back.

"I know…but are we ever going to have this chance again?"

"It's best if we don't wait and see." Stella looked down and at the flowers. "They need some water." She quickly moved towards the chair.

"…Yeah." Bridge suddenly felt a million miles away from the situation. Jack walked in and smiled.

"So, how's everything in here?" He asked. Bridge didn't move as Stella walked by.

"Fine." He deadpanned, taking a seat in the seat where the flowers had once been. He pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, hoping that he could imitate an armadillo or a porcupine at the moment.

Stella walked out into the hallway, spotting Floia in the hallways. She gasped, making Floia look over at her.

"…Corona?" Floia asked.

"…Omega?" Corona said, shocked.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" Stella nodded. "Wanna catch up in the waiting room?"

"…Sure." Stella was unsure if she wanted to go back in, but she thought it would be nice if she didn't have to hang around Bridge.

After nearly four hours of catching up on old times, Syd joined the pack and received her flowers. Syd thanked Bridge, but he didn't seem to notice. He seemed to be lost in his own little world. The nurses had returned with Syd's, Bridge's, and Stella's coats, all of whom quickly suited back up. After a few more hours and a small lunch from the nearby Chinese restaurant later, a doctor came in and looked around.

"Are you all here for Mr. Tate?"

They all nodded yes.

"Any family amongst you?"

Stella set her container of pork fried rice, stood up and walked to the doctor. The rest of the room stopped in shock; Syd nearly choked on her beef teriyaki, Z dropped her orange soda and stared, Jack gave a confused look, and Bridge sat, mouth gaping, his chopstick baring vegetable lo mein stopped a few centimeters below his mouth. "What's wrong?" Stella asked as she approached the doctor.

"Well, we managed to stabilized his breathing and heartbeat…but he has barely enough blood in his system and he's in a coma. He's taken massive muscle tissue damage" The doctor replied as son as Stella got close enough.

"Is there anything I can do for him?"

"Not much, I'm afraid."

"What's going to happen to him?"

"Well, the damage is severe…I'm afraid that if he hypothetically came out of the coma, he would spend at least several years in a wheelchair before we'd be able to sta-"

"NO!" Stella shouted as she swung her left arm back, as if attempting to throw the bad news aside. "I won't accept it!" Her death glare intimidated the doctor so much that the poor physician had to take a step back. Corona sighed deeply, and began to speak in a calmer tone. "If you need some blood, take it. If you need some bone tissue, take it. All I want is for my brother to get better and to be able to do his job. If you can't do that, then just kill him now, because I know he won't want to live."

"There's nothing we ca-"

"Bullshit! This is a hospital! You fix people in hospitals! We have the technology to cure cancers and to surgically repair limbs, but you can't make him walk?"

"I can see what we can do if you're really despera-"

"Don't you condescend me! I'd be willing to do whatever it takes!"

"Well, if you'd like, we can take some blood….but it'd have to be a good amount of it…"

"I don't care."

The doctor sighed. "Fine…come with me."

Stella followed the doctor out, and everybody went back to what they had been doing…except for Bridge. Z could guess exactly what he was thinking about; he had gone pale and hadn't moved a muscle at all.

"Earth to Bridge? Are you there?" Z said as she got up and got right in his face. She got no response, so she snapped her fingers. When she got the same lack of response, she smacked him upside his head. The rap was enough to knock him out of his trance.

"Huh?" He said. He then realized that he still had food in front of him, so he proceeded to continue scarfing it down.

"What's wrong?" Bridge refrained the urge to punch Z in the face for asking, so he continued digging away at the bowl.

"You okay there?" Z was attempting to be nice, but Bridge was doing nothing more than pushing her out. "Bridge, this isn't like you. I'm worried."

"Can't I just be hungry?" Bridge asked. Z got up and walked away; she wasn't going to beat anything out of him after today.


	16. Confessions

"Can't anybody divulge on just what's wrong with him?" Stella asked as she forced her shield to drop so that the nurse could prep her.

"I don't know who you're talking about."

"Schuyler Tate. He's my brother."

"I'm sorry, I'm not working with him."

"Well, do you know who is?" She asked as the nurse tied off the top half of her arm and ripped open the small alcohol satchel. The nurse took the alcohol-laced swab out of the packet and rubbed the alcohol swab and rubbed the skin on the inside of her elbow. Stella flinched a bit; she wasn't used to getting shots. The ultimate benefit of her shield was that it had given her a natural inoculation to every biological agent in the air. Even when her shield failed on the outside, her entire body had a permanent weapon against all pathogens. The nurse slid the needle under her skin, making her flinch.

"You okay?" The nurse asked as she secured the blood drawing apparati.

"I'm just not used to this."

"Well, I have you logged in for giving…four pints of blood?"

"Yup."

"I'm warning you, that's a lot to give up all at once."

"I know. Just do it. I'm not the one who needs it." Stella said, closing her eyes, mentally preparing herself for the long process ahead.

"Bridge…?" Syd said, gently tapping him on the shoulder. Jack and Z had left to report back to base, leaving them waiting on any good news regarding Sky.

"What?" Bridge questioned coldly.

"…Is this about Sky and Stella being related?"

Bridge sighed, trying to control his temper. "I'm upset because he was childish about everything. I'm upset that it had to come this far. I'm upset that nobody can seem to forgive Stella for her mistakes. I'm upset that I can't forgive her for her mistakes. I'm upset that she used me. I'm upset that she's so stubborn. I'm upset that she's so much like Sky and yet she's his exact opposite. I'm upset because everything's hitting me at once. I hate this feeling, Syd. I hate this feeling of being manipulated. I hate this feeling of being codependent. I hate this feeling that I have for her. I hate that she toys with me like I mean nothing at all! I hate that disregards how I feel!" He looked up, his hazel eyes glassed over, trying not to shatter. "I don't ask for anything…anything from anybody…do I? Ever? Do I ask any of you guys for anything unreasonable? Have I ever for as long as we've known each other?"

"You've been way more than reasonable…in fact, I don't ever think you've asked me for a favor since the first day we met."

"She doesn't care how other people feel…she's worse than Sky…Sky tells us we have to do things, and that's because they're rules and it's probably a good idea to follow them. She does things and she doesn't care who or what she destroys….like her shield's blocked out her emotions, too…"

"Listen, I'm guessing that this is your first sorta crush, isn't it?" Syd asked, hoping that she didn't sound too condescending.

"What do you care? You can go around, going through guys like they're rag dolls! She's the first person that I've ever been able to relate to in my entire life! She's the only person who understands…and it hurts that I understand her at all…I know nothing, and she knows everything…" Bridge bent over in the chair, lying his head against his knees.

"It's a little weird for you to not know something, isn't it?"

"Just shut up and go away." Syd sighed, decided that it was probably best to take his command to heart. He was obviously not in the right frame of mind to be asked any more questions.

Stella had been stumbling aimlessly and slowly regaining her bearings. She tried drinking from the bottle of mineral water she was given, but she could hardly pick her arm up to her face, let alone enjoy the cool liquid. She could only hope that this wasn't all in vain. As she was wandering about, she heard gossip from the nurses that Sky was in a room on the fourth floor. She smirked as she focused all of her energy to walk over to the elevators; she was not going to lose her chance.

She kept a low profile as she slinked around the hallways, trying to make it look like she wasn't doing anything suspicious. She worried that she'd be caught at the door, but the guard had gone for a coffee run, leaving the room wide open for invasion. Stella walked in by leveling herself against the wall; she was feeling the effects of losing four pints of blood all at once. She was happy to see a bag of the blood she had just donated being IV'ed into Sky's body as she looked around for a place to drop herself.

"Now you owe me twice as much." Stella joked, sitting down in a chair across the room from the bed. The room was small, and the chair was close enough for her to prop her legs up against the raised end of the bed. The somber silence was interrupted by the EKG and the movement of the respirator moving in a slow-paced rhythm. Stella sighed; she felt like she was eight again, sitting in the chair across from her father, waiting for some sign of life, but getting back nothing but fading vitals.

"I hate you, Schuyler. I've hated you for a long time. I hate that you're such a golden child. I hate that everybody loves you, but they can't be bothered with me. You were always so perfect…but it's all really a façade. Am I the only person to see it? Am I the only one who knew anything about you?" She stopped, letting the EKG beep a few times before continuing. "Listen, if you go out like this, this will be your legacy. You'll be remembered for being the first B Squad ranger to be captured and killed by fellow SPD members. You'll be remembered as being just like dad…just a pawn to the job…don't you want to be more than him? Don't you want to be free…? Don't you want to be the hero you've always dreamed of being? Don't you want more than what mom wants for you?"

She huffed, thinking of how ridiculous it was that she had such a mundane fight, and how stupid it was that she expected Stella to be long gone in the morning. Stella was sick of running. She couldn't run anymore. She had made her decision this morning that she couldn't let her fears rule her life, and not even her own mother could stop her from being here with her brother in his time of need. She sighed, and stood up. The sudden movement made her sway, but she steadied herself by gripping the end of the bed and catching herself before her legs gave out. She slowly made her way up to the top of the bed, stopping as she grabbed his hand softly.

"Ya know what? Even though I hate you, you're the only family I got. I don't care if you never talk to me again, or if you say nothing but the worst lies about me that you can dream up, you're the only family I got now. You're my big brother, and you have to promise to not die on me. I promise to drop all the thing you owe me if you live." She clenched his palm. She shook his hand slightly, then grinned. "There, you shook on it. You have to keep your promise this time; if you die, I'll never forgive you."

She sighed and looked down. This was the tough part. She despised it all, but she had to. "…I'm sorry I did all those stupid things when I was younger. I was afraid. I was greedy. I was self-centered. I'm trying to work on that…but you gotta promise to work on that too. There is no I in team…I think we both have a lot to learn. I hope one day we'll be close, like when we were younger…" She smiled, then ruffled his hair. "Get better." She said as she picked his hand off the bed, bent down, kissed it lightly, then laid his arm around his waist.

She went to walk out, when she noticed that a doctor had left x-rays up. "Gee, I wonder what's here…" She said, finally opening her bottle of water and forcing herself to lift it. The doctor from earlier wandered in and jumped when he saw Stella standing in the corner, staring at the x-rays.

"What are you doing in here?"

"Huh?" Stella turned and looked at the doctor.

"Did the guard let you in?"

"…Yes."

"You look flushed."

"I got up to look at this."

"Well, sit down."

"Will you explain it to me while I'm sitting?"

"I think it's best if you're sitting for this, anyways." He said as he pulled a chair over for Stella.

"That doesn't sound good at all."

Bridge had fallen asleep in the waiting room trying to forget the beginning of the day. Syd had long gone back to the base, and the silence lulled him to sleep. Sure, there was the occasional person came in and sat by him, making sure to not disturb him. He abruptly woke up in a panicked state; something was tugging at him from inside, drawing him outside the hospital.

"What the hell…?" He got up and scratched the back of his head. As he tried to think of what was going on, his body kicked into autopilot and began carrying him out of the hospital.

The fallen sun gave only so much light; Bridge found that it didn't help anyways, since he didn't know what he was going. A forced walk turned to a run; a sudden, overwhelming trance began overtaking his legs and rushed throughout his body. Whatever he was going to do, it was important. He found himself halfway to the cemetery when he spotted a strange sight.

A young man dressed in a long white, knee-length trench coat adorned with red stripes was approaching Bridge in a manner that suggested that the man was, in fact, looking for him. On the left side of the jacket sat an SPD shield badge, which was occasionally overshadowed by his black tie, which also ended in red stripes, bent to fit the arrow-headed end of the tie. His hands were covered in white biker's gloves that ended halfway up his hands, and his red-rimmed white boots went up almost all the way up his shins, showing off only a fraction of his black tights. As far as physical structure went, it was too dark to make out anything serious, but Bridge could tell that the man was roughly around his height and build, and that his fauxhawked hair was colored similar to that of a burnt pumpkin pie. He was carrying a human-sized parcel over his right shoulder as he walked closer.

"Officer Carson?" He called out.

"Who are you?" Bridge asked. He had never seen anybody in SPD wearing that uniform before. The man smiled and began to respond.

"I am an SPD operative."

"What's your name?"

"You can call me Greg." The man smiled. "I have a delivery for you. She's in rough shape, so we should probably go to the hospital."

"What is it?" Bridge was surprised to be receiving large parcels from SPD, delivered by people in strange uniforms.

"Well, I think we should unwrap it in the hospital. Let's go." Greg said with a smile. He began to continue his trek to the hospital with a somber smile on his face, leaving Bridge to follow him with a pondering of the man's sanity.

As they arrived in the lounge, Greg smiled as he sat the parcel in a chair gently, then pulled a chair over to prop the bottom half of the parcel up. Bridge stared at the parcel as he unwrapped it. He gasped; it was Stella…only something didn't feel right. When did she leave?

"Don't worry, it's not the real deal." Greg said, smiling.

Bridge gave a confused, then realized exactly what he meant. It looked exactly like Stella, only there were several chunks of wood and iron sticking through it. If it had been Stella, there would have been lots of blood, only there wasn't any. Bridge watched as Greg searched around the Stella doppelganger's arm, finally finding what he was looking for right around the wrist. He applied pressure to the area in the center of the doppelganger's wrist, causing its eyes to shoot open. The doppelganger looked directly at Greg and gave a confused look.

"Officer Carson?" It asked. It even sounded like Stella.

"Ya know what? That's not the first time I've heard that," Greg answered with a smile. "but no. The name's Greg. You're in the hospital waiting room. How're you operating?"

"I'm severely damaged; I'm not fit to operate properly."

"Just what I thought. Listen, I'm gonna shut you back off until they can bring you back to SPD, okay?"

"Okay."

"When you wake up, you'll be nothing but a floating conscience again, because your body's not fit to operate." Greg illustrated the fact by swirling his hands about. "If you can't move under your own weight, then you should probably get a new body," he then turned to Bridge and finished his sentence. "got it?"

"Ugh…sure."

"Alrighty!" Greg proclaimed, clapping his hands together. He then re-pressed the pressure point in the doppelganger's arm, turning it off. "I see that my work here is done." He stood up, then stopped. He then turned quickly to look at Bridge. "Oh, I almost forgot!" He raised his hand, extending his index finger in a manner that generally suggested a thought. "Some parts of this lovely lady may be salvageable, so you may wanna turn whatever you can into scrap parts before it's too late." He then winked, which confused Bridge. Why would anybody wink in such an odd time?

"Wait, why would I tear it apart?"

"You can always rebuild ACTER anyways, ya know. SPD always has some assortment of spare parts, doesn't it?"

"…ACTER?" Bridge asked, looking over at the doppelganger.

"What? You didn't know?" Greg gave a confused look.

"…No."

"Perhaps Officer Tate would know." He replied. Bridge didn't get it; why would Sky know something about ACTER?

As Greg began to walk out, Bridge followed him. Stella was walking down the hallway towards the waiting room at the same time, and as Greg noticed him, he seemed to get excited.

"Officer Tate!" He shouted as he waved. Stella looked up and behind, hoping that Sky was right behind her. When she didn't see him, she gave a vicious look to Greg, making him flinch.

"Are you talking to me, ya weirdo?" She asked as she walked up to him.

"Oh, you're not Officer Tate?" Greg asked, pointing at her and giving a confused look.

"Well, that's my last name, but I'm not an officer. I'm a mechanic."

"Well, that's odd…" Greg looked down and to the side in a pensive manner. "I could've sworn…" He stroked his chin as he looked upwards. "perhaps I'm misinformed…" He looked back at her and gave her a warm and familiar smile. "well! I suppose we can't ever be right all of the time, but nobody's ever wrong none of the time, but we can tend to be both right and wrong at the…same time…did I screw that one up?" Greg gave an upset look, but he quickly traded it off for the smile. "Well, whatever."

He took his coat off and inverted it, revealing something similar to an SPD Mechanic's long coat, complete with tools. His boots changed colors from white to green, to match the coat. Greg smiled as he put the coat on. "I'd really like to stay and chat, but I have to get going. It's been nice meeting both of you, but…yeah." He began searching his coat pockets, but then suddenly had a thought, digging into what was the outside of his coat moments before. He pulled out a small device that looked like a pen. The tip shot up, emitting a blue light. "Say cheese." Greg said with a toothy grin. After the flash went off, he quickly dropped the memory modifier into his pocket.

"Well, I should be off. Have a good day, you two." Greg said, waving softly and turning around, still maintaining his smile.

"Wait, who are you?" Stella asked, completely confused.

"Oh, I'm a contracted worker for SPD. I got called up about a missing android that could've possibly been damaged, so I went and picked it up for them. The android requested that I bring it to the hospital, specifically to one Stella Tate and/or one Bridge Carson. Well, I ran into both of you, I delivered the android and now I'll be on my way!" He gave a sly smile which only he understood. "How could you two forget that so quickly?"

"I'm…not sure." Bridge replied, looking down at the ground, heavily confused.

"Well, I hope you two have a good night! I hope you two feel better!" He said, walking out the front door.

As soon as he had disappeared into the night, Greg re-inverted his coat and smiled. "Well, good deed for the day…done."

"There you are, Greg!" A female voice shouted. Greg turned to face the source of the voice, and spotted the source standing underneath a lamppost.

The Cervian female had long, straight, shoulder-length brown hair, with two small cat-like Cervian ears peeking up on the sides. Her Cervian freckle pattern started directly above her eyebrows and met down at the tip of her nose. The pattern itself was rare and usually connoted that the Cervian was naturally skilled in various fighting attributes, such as agility, depth perception, strength, strategy-making, and spatial awareness. Many people automatically presumed that she had relation to Dr. Kat Manx when she arrived at SPD, but after a long and lengthy talk over coffee one morning, the young Cervian had found out that Kat hailed from the opposite side of the planet.

The uniform she wore was a carbon copy of Greg's, only the red had been replaced by orange.

"Pulling a 'Sam', are ya, Greg? I thought you were different!" The Cervian woman called out as she walked up to Greg.

"Ailuros, Sam is an ego-tripping nut. He left to save the damn world for whatever reason. Besides, you found me, and you're never going to find Sam."

"Well, he was sent out to do some sort of mission, but he left earlier than planned, while you just ran off." Ailuros replied.

"I had a mission, too!" Greg replied. "It just…wasn't issued to me."

"You know how dangerous time-traveling is without permission! The Commander will lob you in half!"

"Oh, please! My cause was worthy!"

"Oh really?" Ailuros replied.

"What better cause is it than to save the lives of those you care about? Sam preaches it all the time!"

Ailuros sighed. "You're right. It's kinda hard to remember that when…you have nobody…"

"Hey…you have me, don't you?" Greg said, placing his hand on her shoulder.

"You're different. You're my partner."

"But I would stick my neck out for you in a pinch, even if we weren't SPD."

"That's because that's what you're told to do that."

"No, it's because you're a nice person."

Ailuros smiled weakly. "I guess."

"C'mon, let's go home. I'm sure everybody's waiting for us at home."

"Yeah…" Ailuros said as Greg pulled a small device out of his pocket. He pressed a button, unleashing a time portal. They slowly walked into it, hand in hand.

Bridge turned to Stella and attempted to smile. He scratched the back of his head in nervousness, hoping that Stella would talk first.

"…So…" Bridge said.

"…Yeah…" Stella said.

"Should we check out the android?"

"Um…sure."

They walked in, and Stella gasped. "ACTER!" She shouted as she ran over.

"ACTER?" Bridge asked, confused. "That's ACTER?"

"Yeah! ACTER wanted to help, so I agreed that she could help me fight Mordom. He would've won if I didn't cheat…besides, I promised that I'd repair her when it was over…" Stella looked around ACTER's body, but all Stella replied with was a large sigh. "A lot of the vital components are compromised…she's ready for the scrap heap…"

"That's too bad…" Bridge said. "We worked really hard on her, too…"

_"Some parts of this lovely lady may be salvageable, so you may wanna turn whatever you can into scrap parts before it's too late."_

Bridge was unsure of where the voice came from that spoke the line that came to memory.

"Maybe we should try salvaging parts we can use."

Stella stopped moving and just stared at ACTER. She whipped out a piece of paper with several notes on it.

"We should salvage her! Gimme a screwdriver!"

"Huh?"

"Wait, never mind." Stella reached into ACTER's coat pocket and pulled out a small tool kit. She pulled a small screwdriver out of the kit and began to turn ACTER over. She used her shield spike to tear through the clothes and the skin-like shell, exposing the inner core. The inside was a labyrinth of wires, plugs, screws and metal joints, created to mimic the real interior of a human, down to the placement of the motor, shock absorbers, and various important tanks in location where their human counterparts would reside. The metallic spine sat directly in front of where Stella had cut away the outer layer. "We can replace two of these columns…" She looked at Bridge with a serious look on her face. "Go get the doctor working in room 217. Tell him to come here."

Twenty minutes later, Stella handed the doctor two of the pieces of ACTER's spinal column.

"You do realize that, if this doesn't work, that this could kill him."

"Yes, I do. I'm willing to take that chance. He wouldn't want to live if it didn't work, anyways."

"Alright. You'll have to sign some papers…"

"Will do."

"I'll be right back with them." The doctor said.

As the doctor walked out, Bridge coughed to get Stella's attention.

"Yeah?"

"…you want some dinner?"

"As long as it's from that Chinese place again."

"You got it. Same as earlier?"

"Nah. I liked what you had."

"Same here." Bridge smiled.

Roughly twenty more minutes had passed when the deliveryman arrived. Bridge dived into the brown paper bag after paying the deliveryman, dividing their meal up. Stella noted the fact that several bottles of beer were also included.

"Trying to get me drunk, huh?"

"Oh, not really. If you want one, I'll share." Bridge grinned. "Today is just one of those days you could really use a good, long drink."

"Do this often?"

"Actually, not at all. I rarely ever drink unless it's a really special occasion; today definitely won the jackpot on that one. I mean, if you wanna see a drunk, Syd's a party animal. I'm a lot more like Sky; he never drinks. Ever. That's what surprises me."

"Definitely. I'd expect him to be a carbon copy of mom; I guess I'm glad to hear that not all of her vices were adopted by him." Stella said, grabbing one of the bottles. "However, you're right; today is a good day to take up drinking."

Stella grabbed a bottle and popped the top, giving Bridge the initiative to give a toast.

"To Sky's health." He said, holding up his open bottle.

"To Sky's health."

The two then took a long swig from their bottles, starting the hour-long binge of alcohol and Chinese food.

The night dragged onwards, and the sun had long set on the day, leaving a small crescent of the moon to glow in the sky as is was surrounded by the light of stars in various galaxies. Stella felt insignificant as she stared outside through the large glass windows, wondering how many of the many planets she could make out amongst the stars she had stepped on, entertained on, or just plain robbed blindly on. Bridge sighed; he decided to come straightforward with his wants.

"Will we still be close?" Bridge asked, snapping Stella out of her trance.

"Hm?"

"After all of this, will we still be close?"

"What do you mean by close? We'll still be friends…"

"No, I mean…will we ever have moments like earlier again?"

"…Oh…" Stella began to ponder his question.

"Will you be more open to me if we do? I feel like…I feel like I'm giving so much of myself and not getting anything back. All I ask is honesty; that you'll be willing to be up front with me…that's all I want." He sighed, looking down at the ground. "All I've ever wanted was somebody to be close with…I've wanted somebody who was on the level with me…somebody who I knew understood how I felt, how I thought, what my vices and virtues are…somebody I knew I could never hurt. I feel like you fit it all, except you don't care at all for me. I'm just some toy you can play with and toss when you're bored with me. I…I feel so fucking confused around you. I love you, and I hate you, but I need you either way."

Stella turned to face him, tears running down the sides of her face.

"I'm so fucking sorry…I didn't mean to hurt you…" She walked over and dropped herself on top of him, then began to sob uncontrollably. "I just…I know Sky's an asshole…"

"This isn't about Sky!" Bridge said, pushing her off him and knocking her to the ground. "This is about me! This is about my feelings! My thoughts! My emotions! Don't you care about anybody but yourself?"

Stella began to curl up in a ball. Bridge realized that he had scared her and began to calm down.

"I know I'm an asshole too. I'm trying…I'm trying to be better."

"I know. I just wanna know everything before I go throwing myself in your mercy."

"You're an asshole when you're drunk."

"Well now you can say that you've seen the better side of me." Bridge joked.

"I hate this you."

"I actually feel a lot better right now. I feel like I can breathe. I feel so fucking great!"

"You're too drunk to think about feeling." Stella said, sitting up.

"You know what? You're probably right. But I could care less. All I want is for you to give me a bunch of honest answers."

"Do you give all your little girlfriends this 20 Questions game, or is it just the freaks you ask?"

"Girlfriends? You're funny. I almost fried a bunch of girls just trying to be nice to them!" Bridge joked. "I was lucky to even get a sympathy date out of them, let alone a real fucking relationship…" Bridge painfully laughed.

"At least I don't feel like such a fucking loser now."

"Oh? Why's that? Does my pathetic love life amuse you?"

"No, because I thought I was the only person in the galaxy that, at my age, had never had a date."

"You? Not have a date? You're shitting me! You're perfect!"

"Do you know how terrifying it is to a guy to find out that if he hits you hard enough, he could get sent flying across the room? That he can't touch you…that you're like a sculpture in a class case? I can't get attached to anybody because they're afraid for their lives! They're afraid that I could do something to them! They're afraid of getting committed and never having any sort of physical relationship ever again! Most guys can't live without sex! It's painful for them!"

"Ha. Pussies. No man can know true pain without having to live life fearing that a slight brushing of a girl's hair away from her eyes could kill her."

Stella sighed. "So what do you want from me? You want me to be honest? Honest about what? Myself? Fine. My name is Stella Andromeda Tate. I was born December 27th, 2002, in Newtech City Hospital at 11:04 am. My brother, Schuyler Gregory Tate, was born precisely at 11 am, because the dickwad can't ever stand being late for anything. I was born to Gregory and Carolina Tate; my father was an SPD officer and my mother was an alcohol-abusing housewife.

"I grew up in the slums, because with SPD's pay, you can't afford to live anywhere else with four mouths to feed. My father died when I was eight years old, leaving my family to live off his pension. I was given the opportunity to join a band of space pirates less than a year later, and I accepted, knowing I could use the money we earned and plundered to help my mother and brother out. Of course, neither appreciated what we did until we ended up nabbing Sky during a raid. He was standing guard for his little troublemaking friends when we ambushed him. Sky's never been perfect; he just plays off that he was always a golden child. He was a little thief too, and a pretty good one at that. But I digress.

"I ran that for a long while, then I was captured on Earth by a lowly D Squad cadet…none other than Sky…when I was escaping from Mordom's wrath. I had saved Sky about two years back when Grumm started bombing us for making off with some of his goods, and I thought he'd pay me back for it. But he did nothing but get me jailed…he didn't care that I was hurt by it. He testified against me in court, saying that we hypnotized him into being a thief. What a liar he was!" Stella laughed, then crawled closer to Bridge's chair. Bridge leaned forward, interested in her story.

"Well, when I was about six, my shield kicked in, and the kids at school were relentless. They'd toss rocks at me, hoping they'd bounce off like they would. But of course, I didn't understand how to control my shield, so the rocks would go through my shield. For a while, I couldn't eat anything natural; everything I ingested had to be inorganic until I learned how to drop my shield for that sort of thing. The only person who could bypass my shield way Sky; when he learned that he had a shield too, we vowed to protect each other while we found out exactly what was wrong with us. What a fucking waste of a vow that was. But we figured that since we both had a shield, that we cancelled each other out. We found, thought, that our shields would rebound each other, so we could only come in contact when one of us had the shield down. We later learned that, if we focused our energies and were together, that we could make our shields stronger…am I babbling?"

"You can stop at any time."

"Good, because I wanna hear all about you."

"…Me? Seriously?"

"Yeah. I wanna hear about all your people-killing adventures."

Bridge scowled. "For the record, I've never killed anybody, but I have put a few people into comas, and that's usually the last time I talked to them. You're special."

"Aw, that makes me feel all happy inside."

"Well, you should."

"Now go on with your life story."

"Well, okay. My full name is Bridge Nathan Carson. My mom wanted to name me Nathan Jonathon Carson, but my dad didn't like it. My dad wanted to name me Bridge for a reason I'll never know. I always thought that it was because he was one of those new age guys, but I could just be wrong. Well anyways, I was born February 27th, 2002, to Jonathon and Marlonetta Carson, right here, about three floors up. My dad was a scientist for a chemical company and my mom was a traffic cop, so the story goes. My mom quit her job after I was born, and I lived a pretty normal life.

"Then, when I was about six, I had that accident with my mom that I told you about. My mom got worried, thinking it was my dad's fault with all the crap he did in the labs. My dad began to run all these crazy experiments on me, but by the time he had found out that I had some intense psychic powers, I had already gotten several restraining orders put on me, and that was after sending kids into the ER. My dad found that if I kept a barrier between myself and others, even if it was something as simple as, say, a strap of cloth or leather-"

He wiggled the fingers on his hand to show off as an example.

"that my mind would be incapable of unleashing my powers on other people. I found out on my own that, as a secondary skill, with a wave of my arm, I could read people's auras, and it would tell me the intentions of those around me. I could find out if they were being nice because they were genuinely nice, or if they were doing it to pull a trick on me. This started to depress me, because I suddenly found myself finding that the kids at school were coming up with false intentions more and more. It was hard for me to keep friends because I knew that they didn't want to be my friends because they wanted to. I had already put most of those kids in the hospital by that time anyways." Bridge began to fidget with his gloves as he continued.

"So yeah…my mom decided that I should be home schooled. So from first grade, onwards, you won't find my name in any school rosters. I guess it was for the best. I'm sure the kids would've pummeled me eventually with some long objects, like long branches or something. So yeah, I got home schooled, and everything was awesome. I found a wonderful hobby in building robots. I loved to build robots; they were friends that I couldn't hurt. I spent most of my time building, tinkering, improving…I figured that if couldn't have real friends, that my mechanical friends were going to be the best friends I'd never have." Bridge smiled, leaving a melancholy look before continuing onwards.

"I drew up some designs for pets, one of them being the very first template for RIC. SPD heard about some of my work, and wanted me to intern in the Lab department. Of course, a chance to go outside was most appreciated, so I took it. Much to my parent's chagrin, I wanted to be an SPD officer. I wanted to put my ability of aura scanning to good use, but my dad thought it would just be too dangerous. I just made a promise to keep myself suited up at all times. So he let me apply, and I'm sure you can guess how I did on the exam. I got nervous, because I feared the nagging and questions…but nobody ever questioned me about my gloves. In fact, one guy asked me where I got them because he thought they looked like comfortable biker gloves. That guy was Sky." Bridge smiled softly.

"He introduced me to this really famous blonde girl named Sydney and then the three of us began to hang out. They never asked about anything, and their intentions were always pure, and for once I felt comfortable around other people. It was fun for a while, but as we climbed up the ranks, Sky became a bit more arrogant and self-centered, and Syd became a bit prissier, and I found myself staying pretty much the same. Well, as time went on and we made it to B Squad, I found that my friends began to belittle me. What had been cute to Syd and cool to Sky had now become annoying and overplayed. I felt alone again, but I continued on. Then I met you." Bridge blushed a bit. "I felt like you could understand me, because you and I both seemed to have completely isolated lives. Now we're here, and I just want you to tell me whether or not you want to be with me, because I care about you, and I just want to be self-centered and have somebody care about me."

Stella looked down at the floor. "You know it's against guidelines for us to have an on-grounds relationship, right?"

"Definitely. But who says we have to be on-grounds?"

"I mean, that's when we see each other the most…"

"We can be together…"

"Do we have to have a real relationship? Can't we be friends? Good friends?"

"…yeah. We can."

"Then let's be good friends."

"It's agreed."

"Deal."

A silence filled the air for a moment, then Bridge looked up. "…sorry I pushed you."

"No, I deserved it. I was being a fucking bitch…" Stella picked herself up off the ground. "Are you going back to base?"

"Nope. Too drunk to drive."

"Me too…"

"I'm just gonna sleep here…" Bridge took his jacket off and wrapped it around himself.

"Can we share a chair?" Stella asked.

"Sure." Bridge replied with a smile. Stella curled up in his lap and smiled, kissing his lips softly, then lying her head on his shoulder.

"Goodnight, Bridge."

"Goodnight, Stella." He then took his jacket and draped it over then both of them before falling fast asleep.


	17. Are We Human?

_This is the final chapter, everybody! Thanks to all who have reviewed, thanks to all who have read. You've made writing this a lot easier on me by showing support, making good comments, and giving me insight into what you guys think I'm doing next! This has been a great experience for me. Thanks a lot. Now, sit back, relax, grab some popcorn, and enjoy the last chapter._

The next morning was quite a sight for Jack, Z, Syd, and Commander Cruger. Stella, who was obviously fighting a hangover, was ever-so-zealously cleaning up the mess her and Bridge was still asleep, recovering from the night before. Stella was used to cleaning up after a long booze-ridden night in her home, but she had never done it while being drunk and hungover herself. She worked harder to stay awake and fight off her hangover.

"Good morn-" Cruger was hushed by Stella, who pointed at Bridge, then at her forehead. They nodded, noting the six empty bottles Stella brought over to the recycling machine.

"So I take it you two had a peaceful conversation?" Jack asked softly.

"Well, we ended it nicely, if that counts." Stella replied, mimicking Jack's tone.

"Well, that's nice to hear."

"Any word on Sky?" Syd asked.

"Well, they needed to reconstruct a large part of his spine…I had to compromise…well, I had to salvage a part of our training android to give to them…"

"Salvage? What's happened to ACTER?" Doggie asked.

"ACTER?" The others asked loudly, causing them to receive shushes from both Cruger and Stella.

"Yeah, ACTER. I used the android improperly, sir, and I'm ready to take responsibility for it." Stella dropped the garbage bag softly and took an 'at attention' stance.

"There's no need to. We can repair ACTER at any time. I'm just worried about your safety and Sky's health."

"Well, I'm safe, and the doctors hadn't told me about Sky yet, Sir." She seemed to handle the hangover quite well; she stood perfectly upright, like a statue.

"This brings me at a standstill." Cruger said, looking down. "My B Squad can not have only four officers in it, yet I know your personal convictions…"

"Sir, I will stand in for Sky if it is what you wish. I have to learn to take orders as you give them, regardless of personal opinion." Her voice was clear and concise; she was serious about what she said. "If I learned anything from the last twenty-four hours, it is that I can't be selfish when there are things greater than me, like my true callings. I have learned that nobody can run from their fears forever, that nobody can evade their own fate. If this is my fate, then I take it."

"Well said, Miss Tate. I am proud to say that all of this has given you a greater sense of purpose, regardless of how much suffering it took to get you here. I realize that this must be a painful moment for you, and for all of us, but your courage in the face of your fears and doubts has proven that you are a true warrior, worthy of being in B Squad. I have never been as serious about my previous offerings as I am right now. I've always known that you were afraid to be a Ranger, but I see before me a brave young woman, ready for battle. I am happy to give this to you for the time being."

Cruger handed Stella Sky's morpher. She had completely forgotten where she had put it after she had been in the bathroom; she guessed that a nurse had picked it up and sent it off with somebody back to the base. "And this time, be more careful with this. You left this thing in the toilet and it nearly got flushed."

"I'm sorry, sir." She blushed in nervousness.

"No problems, just be careful." Cruger turned to leave, but turned back around. "You do realize that you will be undergoing an intense training regiment with the others?"

"Yes I do, Sir. I will try my hardest to not only keep up with the others, but hopefully bring a few of my own training methods in with me that I got from the Tantalus."

"That sounds like a great idea, Miss Tate. I'm sure the training you received on the Tantalus will prove most valuable."

"Yes, Sir."

Bridge began to stir in the chair, prompting Stella's attention. She walked over to him and kneeled down to eye level as he slowly woke up. The light hit his eyes and he moaned as he shielded his eyes with his arm and turned his head to the side. He noticed Stella kneeled down next to his face and pulled back a bit.

"Hey…" Bridge said weakly.

"Hi. How're ya feeling?"

"Sick…" He sat up. "I…hold on…" He got up and wandered into the bathroom.

"Is he alright?" Syd asked.

"Yeah, we just decided to toast Sky's impending surgery a bit." Stella smiled. "They said that he'd able be back on his feet with a few days of rehabilitation and bed rest, and possibly back to SPD…or they'd kill him. Medical science is wonderful that way, isn't it?"

"Wow, a few days?" Z asked.

"Well, they said that since there wasn't any severe necrosis of the nerve tissue, that with some of the newer technologies they've been working with, they can get him back on his feet sooner…that's if they don't hit something wrong and kill him."

"Well, It's nice to have a 50-50 chance on the outcome…" Syd commented, giving an annoyed look.

An hour later, Bridge was asleep once again, with his head in Stella's lap as he sat on the floor. Stella ruffled his hair as Syd and Z returned with food from the hospital cafeteria. Cruger took a pot of green tea and a small cup, Z gladly took her bowl of chicken soup, Syd happily took her bowl of gelatin and glass of water, Jack grabbed one of the tuna salad sandwiches, and Stella decided not to eat.

"Dive right in, Stella! You're gonna need energy once you get out on the field."

"Not up to eating…not until I hear about Sky."

Jack nodded in understanding, then began to eat his sandwich.

The doctor came in ten minutes later, and Stella nearly leaped out of the chair, sending Bridge flying forwards and smacking his head against the chair across form him. He suddenly woke up and yelped.

"I'm sorry!" Stella said. She then quickly rushed up to the doctor. "How's Sky?"

"Mr. Tate is still in a coma, but he's slowly coming to."

"Can I go visit?"

"In a few hours. His status isn't quite stable, but we're sure to have him stable by then." The doctor smiled.

"Good." The doctor left, and Stella sat down, grabbing a chicken salad sandwich on the way down. Bridge sat up, holding his head.

"What was that for?" Bridge asked, turning around and giving a pained look.

"I'm going to visit Sky…by myself…in a few hours."

Nobody asked why she wanted to go alone; they all knew that she was entitled to some time alone with him.

Several hours passed, and the doctor returned.

"Miss Tate?"

"Coming." Stella didn't want an explanation. She just wanted to see Sky.

She walked down to his room with an air of conviction surrounding her as she came close to Sky's room. She entered the doorway and sighed. She remembered her speech from before, and she hoped that she could muster up the words to do it again. She walked over to the bed and softly grabbed his left hand, which was now in a blue cast.

"Hey, Sky. You don't owe me anymore." She joked. "Thanks for not dying on me." She smiled as she noticed that he was breathing under his own power. "You'd make dad proud, ya know? You took this all like a man. You came out on top…you're gonna be able to be back on active duty in about a week or two. You have me to thank, of course, but you lived, so all paybacks up to now are voided." She sighed. "Ya know…Bridge and I were really worried about you. Syd was all mopey, Z was all grumpy, and even Jack seemed a bit out of step with you gone, so you had better recover soon. You'd better be nicer to me, or Bridge will whip you." She paused for a moment, then smiled. "I'm just kidding. But Bridge said you were a total jack off to me and he wasn't going to stand for it, so you'd better try to be nicer. Besides, they're going to be my co-workers while you're out on leave, so I can guarantee everybody will be protective of me by the time you come back."

"Is Cruger…so eager to get rid of me now…that he's already replaced me?" Sky replied, slowly turning his head and opening his eyes to look at Stella.

"You're…awake?"

"I've been…in and out for a while…" Sky's talking were still limited to being in synch with his exhales, but Stella could only imagine how difficult it was for him to breathe, let alone talk.

"Were you awake…the last time I was here?"

"Yeah…and you're right…"

"About what?"

"That I'm…not free…that I'm…an asshole…but I have…always been there…to protect you…"

"No you haven't!"

"Why do…you think…I got mad at you…when you sent me…back to Earth…when Grumm attacked?"

"Because you wanted to be a hero."

"Because…you were going to…stay and I…didn't want you…to die alone…" Sky's eyes began to glaze over. "I didn't want him…to tear us apart…like Mordom…had been trying to do…for years…"

"You knew about Mordom…?"

"Why do you think…he spent so much time…training us?" Sky asked. "Nobody does…anything for free…anymore…why should a thief…be any different?" Sky laughed softly, then continued. "I wanted…to leave with you…so that he…could never use us…for his evil purposes…"

"But that doesn't explain why you put me in jail for nothing."

"Cruger…knew you were my sister…I told him about Mordom…begged him to help…me protect you…he told me to tell…white lies…so that you'd be incarcerated…in jail, you'd be safe…as a cadet…soon to be a Ranger…Cruger would have you…safe from Grumm, from Mordom…safe from everybody…but you threw it away…I got so upset…I hated you for being stubborn…over time I forgot why…and it just escalated…that's my fault…I've been so mad at you…for so long…I forgot why I started hating you…in the first place…then you started…going off on your own…away from Cruger's grasp…out of hiding…"

"And you started to hate me again?"

Sky frowned. "Yeah…do you…hate me for that?"

"I can forgive you if you promise to stop being such a dick."

"…I promise…" Sky smiled the most natural smile Stella had ever seen.

"Do you promise to apply that to everybody, even Jack?"

"Hey now…baby steps."

"Better make them big baby steps."

"I'll try…"

"Good."

"Anything…else…dad…?" Sky joked, his smile widening.

"Well, I'm gonna be taking your place in SPD for a while."

"Good…to hear…that you accepted…I knew Cruger…would make you pay…for breaking…me in half…" Sky laughed.

"So you approve? Do I have your blessing?"

"Of course…you do…I wouldn't…want anybody else…for the job…besides…haven't you…always wanted to…be blue ranger…?"

Stella smiled warmly, clasping Sky's left hand gently. "Yeah…" She forced a Sky-like tone to ring in her voice as she continued. "I promise to not let you down. I'll do everything in my power to make sure I'm the best blue ranger I can be."

"Now…if you're…like that…all the time…you'll be accused…of being…anally retentive…" Sky tried not to laugh. He had gotten used to the kinds of insults that came from always trying to be by the book.

"Like you'd know something about that."

"Well…nobody else…takes being SPD…seriously anymore…especially Jack…"

"Yeah…" She frowned. "Well, I promise then to uphold your place in SPD while you're gone. I won't let the others lag while you're recovering."

"Good." Sky smiled brightly. "Now…go do…your damn job…you slacker…"

"Yes sir." Stella said, saluting Sky as she let go of his hand. "I'll get going, but you gotta promise to get better."

"I promise."

"Good."

Stella smiled as she began to walk out. She stopped for a moment, turned around and smiled.

"You want me to get the nurses to bring something in for you to eat or drink?"

"The nurse said earlier that I'm limited to a jello diet for now…I asked for raspberry." Sky gave a toothy grin.

"Sounds good. Alrighty…" Stella frowned. "I'll miss you."

"I'll…miss you too…go kick some ass…for me…got it…?"

"I'll be golden, just like you."

"Good."

For the next two weeks, Stella made true to her promise, working hard to learn how to be a Ranger. In-between arrests and patrols, Bridge taught Stella how to properly use a D-Baton and Deltamax Striker, while she started teaching the B Squad her boxing moves that she had perfected over the years and got them engaged in sprinting races.

Bridge, despite his lack of hand-to-hand combat skills, was severely proficient in the use of his sidearms, and therefore the best qualified to train her. Stella started out rocky, but as soon as she saw his attacks, she began to remember them, quickly noting how he was moving. She fought the urge to automatically mimic him using movement she knew she couldn't do, yet rather try hard to make a counterstrike. As soon as she had mentally diminished the urge to mimic his movements, the training sessions became easier and more fluid. As the weeks went on, the training sessions between them became a graceful dance, filled with parries, thrusts, sudden rapid-fire strikes, and blocks. It didn't take her long to make variations and adjustments on the techniques ingrained into her mind, and she quickly worked up an elaborate chain of attacks that quickly brought Bridge down, even on his good days.

During this time, Stella excelled in the sprint races and the boxing; every day that the B Squad had to train under her was a day they knew they'd be needing ice packs sitting in the room waiting for them. During the sprinting races around the track, Bridge and Syd had become prone to tripping, falling, passing out, and puking out of pure exhaustion and overstepping their boundaries, which would always end the race. Stella felt bad that she had pushed them all to their extremes while she hardly broke a sweat around the track, but she knew that it would pay off. Within two weeks, they were not only keeping up with her, but surpassing her. Days like that brought a smile to Stella's face; she felt good knowing that she was helping her older brother's team to a higher level.

Boxing was almost second nature to Jack, while Syd, Bridge, and Z had to gradually pick it up along the way. Stella's left hook became a thing of fear after the first day; Syd took a hard blow to the ribs and spent the rest of the day in the infirmary. Jack was the only one who was capable of dodging Stella's lightning-fast punches, although half the time it was through his ability to phase and not his natural ability to dodge. Syd whined about the boxing exercises, citing that it broke all of her nails. Stella just laughed and told her to file them down and try regrowing them later. Of course, after two long weeks of burning ribs, aching stomachs and weakened arms, even Syd and Z were able to dodge Stella's blows and even land punches of their own.

Two long weeks came and went, and Sky was due back in SPD headquarters on the first Saturday of the month. The day came, and the B Squad, Boom, Kat, Commander Cruger, Stella, and Floia prepared for a surprise party. Salia, Floia's sister, even volunteered to cater the party. Salia missed Sky almost as much as Floia did; she especially missed the days when her and Sky worked together on the Tantalus. Besides, she had a gift to give Sky that she had promised to give him the next time she saw him.

Shortly after noon, Boom plowed through the halls and ran into the Commons Room where the party was being held.

"Guys! Get ready! He's just arrived!" Boom shouted as he gasped for air.

"Well then, Boom, escort him here." Stella said with a smile as she pushed a chair up against the wall. Bridge stopped her and adjusted her green and blue-striped tie she was wearing, to which she responded with a swift peck on the cheek and a hope that nobody noticed.

Boom caught Sky as he was coming up the escalator. Sky seemed confused as to why only Boom was there to greet him.

"Where is everybody?" Sky asked Boom.

"Ugh, everybody? Do you mean everybody as in, ugh, B Squad? They, ugh, there was a monster attack on the city! …They had to go…stop the criminal! …They should be back soon hopefully." Boom nervously stammered. He hated being under pressure, and flat out lying imposed the worst kind of pressure on him, even more than testing out something he built on his own.

"I see. How about the Commander?"

"Lots of…paperwork! Yeah, lots of it. No time to come and, um, welcome you back!"

"…Kat?"

"Some stupid machine broke…she's in the lab fixing it."

"Well, at least everybody's not actively trying to avoid me…well, at least you came, Boom." Sky cracked a slight grin and walked past Boom in the direction of the Commons Room.

"Maybe you should…take a look around before…going inside the Commons Room!" Boom shouted, alerting the crew in the Commons Room.

Everybody dived behind the couches and closed the windows before Stella turned out the lights. Sky entered, shocked to find that the room was entirely black.

"Huh. Somebody must've left the lights off…" Sky said as he turned them on.

"Surprise!" Everybody jumped out from behind the couches, nearly giving Sky a heart attack from the shock. He couldn't remember the last time anybody, let alone a large group of people, had thrown him a surprise party.

"NOVA!" Floia and Salia shouted. "OH, WE MISSED YOU!" They said as they ran to his sides and gave him a big hug. Sky blushed a bright red; he had to admit that he missed them too, as much as he had forgotten about them. He wrapped his arms around both of them until they pulled away.

"You're still a giant compared to us!" Salia commented, adjusting her chef's hat.

"Yes, a giant, indeed!" Floia agreed.

"Well, if you feel the need to tower over anybody, Syd's over there." Sky said, cracking a smile.

"Aw! How mean!" Salia said.

"Very mean!" Floia replied. Both of them poked his cheeks. "You are still a lady killer, though."

"A killer of ladies, indeed." Salia replied, poking the tip of Sky's nose.

"We all missed you!" Syd added, feeling jealous. "It was pretty boring without you, ya know."

"Boring? Stella's been slowly killing us the last two weeks! I'd hardly call that boring!" Bridge commented, which earned him a punch to the upper arm from Stella.

"I kept my promise. I helped bring in roughly a dozen criminals!" Stella bragged.

"That's good to hear." Sky sounded unimpressed. He pulled away from Floia and Salia, then walked up to Stella. He stopped right in front of her, leaned in, and whispered "Outside, ten minutes", then headed to the refreshment table right behind her.

"Well, let's have a party, then!" Cruger said, throwing up his hands. Everybody then dived for the table. Sky walked out several minutes later, and Stella followed him out. Once they both knew they were alone, Sky quickly pulled her into a hug and buried his head into her shoulder.

"…Sky…?"

"I…I wanna say thanks." Sky wasn't good at apologizing, even to his own twin sister. He tried to muffled his voice in her shoulder to mask the hitches in his voice caused by getting choked up. "And…I know I wasn't…up front with anything…"

"I know. It's okay." She hugged him and rubbed the top half of his back in a consoling manner, making sure her hand didn't travel too far down. The last thing she needed was to cause any more damage. "You're not emotional like me. I cry all the time, and you think of reasons to stopping the crying before it starts. That's how it's always been."

"I wish I was a better brother."

"I don't. I mean, who else would I have to look up to if it wasn't you?" Sky smiled warmly. He never thought Stella looked up to him before she said it, but it felt good to hear it nonetheless.

"Well, do you accept my apology?" Sky asked as he picked his head off her shoulder. He had grown misty-eyed and red-nosed, and Stella wiped his eyes clean. "Don't cry, Sky. It's your party."

"I didn't! I…" Sky couldn't think of an excuse.

"It's okay. Let's go in." As she walked in, Sky grabbed her arm. She looked back at him.

"One last thing." Sky said.

"Oh, right." Stella took out Sky's morpher, but as she went to hand it to him, he grabbed her hand and stopped her.

"Not yet."

"Then what?" Stella looked confused as she re-holstered the morpher.

"You tell Bridge that if he does anything to make your life miserable, that he'll be in worse shape than I was. They'll be hooking him up to an iron lung when I'm done with him."

Stella snorted. "So, trying to be a big brother ever so suddenly?"

"I need to catch up, don't I?"

"I guess…" Stella grinned. "Now c'mon…stop being all girly and whiny and enjoy your damn party!" She pulled him back into the room.

Halfway through the party, Salia stopped Sky and smiled.

"What, no hello for me?" Salia joked.

"Ah, I'm sorry…Sonoma?"

"Yeah, I'm Sonoma." She extended her hand out for a shake. "Salia Stratus."

"Schuyler Tate." Sky said, shaking Salia's hand. Salia had slipped something in his hand during the shake, which he quickly slid into his side pocket.

"I hope you enjoy that. I saw Stella and that guy in green in my restaurant a few weeks ago, and I noticed that he was doing some weird thing with a green light and his right hand…and I thought that the little video I shot a long time ago would apply." Salia smiled. "Well, if you want, you can visit my little restaurant whenever you want…just nothing like parties."

"Got it. Did you cater? I noticed a few things not indigenous to an Earth menu."

"Why, yes I did. You like? I tried to remember what you liked…but it's been a while…"

"Yeah, I saw some stuff that I haven't had in a while."

"Yeah…" Salia wasn't sure what to say next to Sky, but Floia fixed that problem.

"Nova, Nova, Nova!" Floia ran over and hugged Sky. "How is my Nova feeling?"

"Ugh, um…I'm okay…" Sky didn't need to look around to know that Syd was currently shooting looks of death in Floia's direction.

"Good, good! I'm happy to hear that you're okay! I set up all the flowers you loved to have when we traveled around…together we're excellent party hosts!"

"Good hosts, indeed." Salia replied.

"Well, thanks, you two. I'm just surprised that you guys threw a party just for me…I thought you'd throw a party about me not being here!"

"Silly Nova…we missed you! We wouldn't do that!" Floia commented.

"Nope, not ever." Salia reassured.

The party went on until the food was gone and the guests were needed in their respective jobs. Sky, however, went to sleep. The pain medication he was on made it hard for him to stay awake, and it wasn't like he was expected to be back up on his feet anyways. He walked into his room and found Stella on Bridge's bed, snoring and drooling all over the pillows. He paid no attention to her; he merely peeled off his jacket and got into bed.

He got up several hours later when the door opened and the dark room became filled with the Common Room's light. Bridge wandered aimlessly in and dropped onto his bed, fully aware that it was already occupied. However, the current occupant made no complaints as Bridge landed on top of her. Sky sat up, remembering the gift Salia had given him earlier in the day. He grabbed his jacket and silently slid out the door, letting Bridge and Stella sleep.

He wandered out into the Commons Room to find that it was empty. Sky smiled; he would have the entire room to himself once more. He took the video chip out of his pocket and put it into the TV jack. He then turned on the TV.

_A young woman with long white hair and purple eyes sat in front of the camera, a look of serenity painted across her face._

"_If you are watching this video," She began to say. "then you most likely are a member or ex-member of the S.P.S. Tantalus. Therefore, I salute you for being a part of something wonderful." She saluted the camera with the traditional SPD salute. "If this is either Corona or Nova, then I left you a memoir at the very end that I'm sure you'll enjoy. But if not, then enjoy the show."_

_The movie then shifted to showing clips of concerts from various venues around the galaxy, with Nova at the head of the show, always wearing a well-pressed tuxedo even when he didn't need to. The girls all wore dresses of various lengths, cuts, and colors, and the crowd always seemed to cheer._

_The clips were interwoven with training scenes, picnics on sunny days with everybody wearing their summer clothes, and even a party for Nova and Corona on their birthday. Corona, though, was always nudging Nova into group activities and playing games with the others. It was the way he was and always had been, it seemed._

"Perhaps it wouldn't kill me to get involved willingly, would it…?" Sky thought aloud.

The screen faded to black for a moment, and Sky presumed it was over. However, he noticed something at the bottom of the screen, so he began to stare. Then suddenly, Sonoma's face popped up on the screen.

"_I see you hung around for my little message, didn't you?" Sonoma asked the camera. "Good. This is my private movie for Corona and Nova. If you're seeing this, then I must have lived long enough to give this to you. I hope you enjoy this…"_

_The image of Sonoma faded, replaced by a shot of a teenaged boy and girl sitting on a bench, staring out one of the bay windows. The Earth Moon could be seen floating by in the distance._

"Oh…" Sky vaguely remembered the scene.

"_Are we human?" The girl asked._

"…_What's wrong?" The boy asked back._

"_Do you think we're human, Nova?"_

"_Corona…that is a stupid question."_

"_No question is stupid if the answer isn't known."_

_Nova sighed and looked down. "You only ask me this when you're upset. What's wrong?"_

"_I just…I'm having that feeling again…every time we visit Earth, I feel like an alien. Like I don't belong."_

"_It's how we've always felt. It's nothing new."_

"_But, I mean…" Corona sighed. "We've seen creatures from all around the galaxy, and not any of them have our powers!"_

"_Maybe we're special, okay?"_

"_No!" Corona shouted, turning away from Nova. "You don't know how it feels to want to play with kids your age…everybody likes you. You're the hero…I'm not even a sidekick."_

_Nova sighed, then scooted over to Corona's side, giving her a hug. "Listen, do you want my opinion?"_

"_Of course."_

"_I think…" Nova paused for a moment, then continued. "I think that we're human. We were born on Earth to two normal human beings, so why shouldn't we be human too?"_

"…_Do you think it's because dad was a ranger?"_

"_Maybe. Maybe not. You know what?" Nova sat up. "Do you remember in school, they taught us about evolution, about how everything changed over time?"_

"_A little. The tutors here don't teach much science above practical science."_

"_Well, okay. Do you think…do you think that perhaps…we evolved?"_

"_What do you mean?" Corona asked, turning to face Nova._

"_Like…what do you think happened when the first creature evolved? Do you think they were like you, sitting around, thinking they were freakish?"_

"_Maybe, I don't know…" Corona looked down and started biting her lip. Nova looked out the bay window and out towards the moon._

"_Do you think we're alone, then?" Corona asked, breaking the silence._

"_Chances are that we aren't. I mean, there are billions of people on Earth. What are the odds that only two of us are going through the evolution process?"_

"_Point taken…" Corona said with a smile. "Do you…do you think we'll find others like us?"_

"_If we try hard enough, we most certainly will. And when we do, we should never let them go."_

"Never…let them go…" Sky repeated. "I see…like Bridge…and Syd…and Z…and Jack…" Sky smirked. "Point taken, Salia." He then went back to watching the movie.

_Nova was staring at the moon outside the window. "It looks so insignificant here…" Nova said._

"_Huh?"_

"_The moon…when you're on Earth, everything outside seems so big…but when you've gone everywhere, it seems like it's nothing compared to, say, Io."_

"_True…"_

_The camera then panned back, revealing that Sonoma had been watching the pair, and that Omega was holding the camera. They got up silently and began to walk back to their Commons Room. As they walked back, Sonoma began to walk slowly and give off an air of pensiveness._

"_What are you thinking of, Salia?" Omega asked._

"_Of what Nova said."_

"_Do you think he's right?"_

"_Right, indeed. I think that there are others like them. The gods do not just gift one or two with such great powers; they gift five or six. Isn't that how it always goes?" Sonoma said with a smile._

"_So you think there's three or four of them still on Earth, waiting for them?"_

"_Mhm."_

"_Do you think we should send them back to find them?"_

"_No. If they are fated with gifts from beyond, they are bound to find each other in time."_

"_It sounds like a romantic dream…"_

"_This is all a romantic dream!" Sonoma said, throwing her arms out to illustrate her point. "We are all dreaming, and some of us just have better dreams!" She smiled a jealous looking smile. " Some of us have dreams with meanings…and Nova and Corona will be forever dreaming with purpose…others down there-" She pointed to the Earth, which was far off in the distance outside the window she was passing, then began to gaze out the window in a pensive manner. "they are dreaming the same dreams as Nova and Corona…one day, they will wake up and begin to live the lives they had been dreaming about…this is but a dream for us…to do good in the universe…to be the heroes we read about in books…but for Nova and Corona, I think, this is nothing but a dream that comes to us as we awaken."_

"_How poetic."_

"_Thank you."_

"_But what about us?"_

"_What about us?"_

"_Will we ever stop dreaming?"_

"_We will…but when we wake up…our lives won't be like this…as it is in plays…the lives of the actors off stage are never as amazing for the supporting cast as they are for the stars." Sonoma looked at the camera, then the screen faded to black._

Sky smiled and turned the tape off. He understood fully why Salia had waited to give him the video chip, and why she had given it to him in general. He got up, took the chip out of the jack, then walked back into his room, unaware that Bridge and Stella had been standing in the dark corner, watching it all along. Sky yawned as he approached his bed; the medication was relentless in making him tired. He curled up underneath his sheets, falling asleep as he began to think about what Salia had said.

"Are we still dreaming, Bridge…?" Stella asked as she walked forwards, out of the corner.

"I think we're slowly coming out of them…slowly, and steadily…"


End file.
